STEPHEN  B.  WEEKS 

CLASS  0FI886;PH.D.  THE  JOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY 

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TIE  WEEKS  COLILEOTON 


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ELDER  HUMPHREY  POSEY, 


FIRST   BAPTIST   MISSIONARY 

TO     THE    CHEROKEE    INDIANS,    AND    FOUNDER   OF    VALLEY 

TOWN    SCHOOL,    NORTH    CAROLINA. 


BY   ROBERT    FLEMING, 

OF  NEWNAN,  GEORGIA. 


-*•*- 


PUBLISHED   BY   THE 

WESTERN    BAPTIST   ASSOCIATION   OF    GEORGIA. 

1852. 


/  V 


King  &  Baird.  Printers, 

Sansom  St.,  Philadelphia. 


NOTICE. 

This  very  brief  Memoir  of  Elder  Posey, 
has  been  prepared  by  the  Author,  at  the 
request  of  the  Western  Baptist  Associa- 
tion, Georgia.  It  is  hoped  that  the  numer- 
ous friends  of  the  deceased  may  be  inter- 
ested in  its  perusal,  and  that  the  religion 
of  Christ  may  be  "promoted  by  its  circula- 
tion. But  it  is  especially  hoped,  that  the 
cause  of  Indian  Missions  may  be  aided, 
and  the  general  cause  of  benevolence  sub- 
served. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Preliminary  Remarks 7 

CHAPTER  I. 

Birth  of  Humphrey  Posey. — His  Education. — Habits 
of  Early  Life 13 

CHAPTER  II. 

His  Marriage. — Conversion. — Impressions  on  Preach- 
ing.— Ordination 19 

CHAPTER  III. 

Revival  of  the  Missionary  Cause  in  Europe. — Among 
the  Baptists  in  America. — American  Board  of  Com- 
missioners.— Triennial  Convention. — Valley  Town 
Mission  among  the  Cherokee  Indians. — Mr.  Posey's 
Agency  and  Influence  among  them 32 

CHAPTER  TV. 

Character  of  Elder  Posey  as  a  Christian. — A  Preacher. 
— A  Pastor. — A  Yoke-fellow  in  the  Ministry. — Let- 
ter from  Elder  A.  "Webb. — Interesting  Anecdote. — 
Dr.  Howell's  Letter. — Respect  of  the  Indians  for 
him 67 


6  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V. 

PAGE 

The  Organization  of  the  Georgia  Baptist  Convention. 
— Presence  of  Elder  Posey. — His  Labors  in  Georgia. 
— Agency  for  Cave  Spring  School,  in  Floyd  County. 
— Death  of  Mrs.  Posey. — His  Marriage  to  Mrs. 
Jane  Stokes,  and  Settlement  in  Newnan. — His 
Death 85 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Persecution  of  Elder  Posey. — Anecdote. — Method  of 
Preaching. — His  Portrait 93 


PRELIMINARY    REMARKS. 

From  the  days  of  John  the  Baptist  until 
now,  the  Baptists  have  been  more  famous 
for  preaching  in   the  wilderness,  than  for 
wearing  soft  raiment,  and  for  dwelling  in 
king's  houses.     They  have  generally  been 
looked  upon  as  reeds  shaken  with  the  wind, 
and  have  every  where  been  spoken  against. 
Many  of  them  have  been  eloquent  ministers 
of  Jesus  Christ,  "  fervent  in  the  spirit,  and 
mighty  in  the  scriptures,"  and  have  "  taught 
diligently  the  things  of  the  Lord."     Some 
of  the  most  distinguished  men  which  the 
world  has  ever  known  were  in  principle  and 
profession    Baptists.     A   record  of    their 
history  has  not,  however,  in  all  instances, 
been  preserved.     In  this  respect,  the  Bap- 
tists have  not  done  justice  to  themselves  ' 
nor  to  the  cause  they  so  heartily  adhere  to. 
They  have  probably  been  criminal  in  this 


8  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

thing  to  a  greater  extent  than  they  are  able 
to  perceive.  The  great,  and  almost  un- 
paralleled increase  of  their  numbers  within 
the  past  and  present  century,  has  given 
rise  to  an  era  in  their  history  which  will, 
no  doubt,  mark  their  general  character  for 
centuries  to  come. 

The  establishment  of  "  The  American 
Baptist  Publication  Society'  will  be  re- 
membered. Through  it  the  enlightened 
world  may  learn  what  the  Baptists  were, 
what  they  now  are,  and  what  they  probably 
will  be.  But  while  the  pages  of  their 
general  history  are  rapidly  assuming  a 
more  interesting  aspect,  will  not  the  depart- 
ment of  biography  add  largely  to  the 
amount  of  pleasure  and  improvement  of  the 
thoughtful,  candid  reader?  Almost  all 
classes  feel  interested  in  perusing  biogra- 
phical sketches  of  remarkable  persons. 
There  is  a  kind  of  charm  in  this  depart- 
ment of  literature,  which  is  rarely  found 
"in  any  other  species  of  history.  "Many 
valuable  observations  in  the  conduct  of 
human  life,"  says  a  good  writer,  in  the 


OP    ELDER    HUMPHREY   POSEY.  9 

Encyclopedia    of    Religious     Knowledge, 
u  may  be  made  from  the  accounts  of  those 
who  have  been  eminent  and  useful  in  the 
world."    Indeed,  the  lives  of  wicked  persons 
often  furnish  us  with  lessons  of  instruction. 
They  point  with  certainty  to  the  fatal  con- 
sequences which,  sooner  or  later,  follow  a 
life  of  heedlessness  and  rebellion  against 
God.     "We    may   not    be    able    to   derive 
pleasure  from  perusing  the  sketches  of  an 
unholy  life,    and   therefore   may  not   feel 
anxious  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  those 
who  have  contributed  to  augment  the  sum 
of  human  woe.     Yet  there  still  lingers  in 
our  fallen  nature,  it  would  seem,  a  universal 
consent     that    "  the   remembrance   of    the 
wicked  shall  perish  from  the  earth,  and  he 
shall   have  no  name  in  the  street."     Job 
xviii.   17.     But  while  "the   name  of  the 
wicked   shall  rot"  in    forgetfulness,    uthe 
memory  of  the  just  is  blessed."     Pro  v.  x.  7. 
It  is  a  debt  we  owe  to  the  memory  of  those 
who  have  given  their  time,  their  talents, 
and  their  lives  to  promote  the  best  interests 
of  our  bodies  and  souls. 


10  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

This  world  has  often  been  termed  a 
wilderness.  Holy  writ  declares  we  are 
"travelers  and  sojourners,  as  all  our 
fathers  were."  It  would,  therefore,  seem 
that  it  may  be  a  good  work  to  write  a 
good  biography  of  a  good  man, — to  de- 
lineate the  journey  through  this  wilderness, 
and  sketch  the  more  useful  parts  for  the 
benefit  of  those  who  may  come  after. 
Thus  the  young  traveler  may  learn  how  to 
take  advantage  of  the  rough  and  disastrous 
places  which  he  may  have  to  encounter. 
He  may  also  learn  how  to  avoid  the  dan- 
gerous precipices  over  which  his  predeces- 
sors have  been  incautiously  precipitated. 

In  attempting  to  give  a  sketch  of  the 
life  of  Elder  Posey,  the  writer  considers 
himself  called  upon,  from  a  variety  of  con- 
siderations, to  inform  the  reader,  at  the 
outset,  that  he  is  fully  sensible  of  his  in- 
ability to  give  to  his  friends  that  kind  of 
production  which  they  are  desirous  to  see, 
and  which  they  have  a  right,  in  some 
degree,  to  demand.  The  incidents  in  his 
life,    from  the   mere   circumstance   of  his 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  11 

locality  in  the  missionary  field,  were  many 
and  interesting.     But  a  record  of  them  has 
not  been  preserved,  and  but  few,  compara- 
tively, can  now  be  collected  for  the  benefit 
of   surviving   friends.     To   gather   up   his 
numerous  religious  letters  on  business  con- 
nected with  his  missionary  career,  is  im- 
possible;    and  his  private  correspondence, 
though  somewhat  extensive,  has  not  been 
in  many  instances  preserved.     His   diary 
of   travels   through  various   parts    of   our 
country,  is  disconnected,  and  of  such  a  cha- 
racter as  to  be  of  little  service  in  preparing 
this  sketch.     From  what  his  friends   have 
known  of  him,  and  from  what  the  writer 
has   obtained  by   the    assistance    of  some 
of  his   worthy   acquaintances    and   fellow- 
laborers  in  the  gospel  ministry,  he  hopes 
to  give  a  history  of  this  excellent  servant 
of  the  Lord,  which  will  be  interesting  and 
useful  to  those  who  know  how  to   appre- 
ciate  plain   productions,    and   who    desire 
truth,  more  than  embellishment,  in  works 
of  this  kind. 

The  sketch  of  the  rise  and  progress   of 


12  SKETCH    OF    THE   LIFE 

Modern  Missions  in  Europe  and  America, 
given  in  the  third  chapter  of  this  work, 
seemed  indispensable.  Many  valuable  his- 
tories of  Missions  have  issued  from  the 
press ;  but  who  read  them  and  where  are 
they  to  be  found  ?  It  is  a  lamentable  fact, 
that  many  of  our  good  brethren  in  the 
ministry  have  never  seen  such  books  as 
"  Qlioxdes  History  of  Missions  "  or  "  Cf-am- 
mells"  or  even  the  little  tract  called  "  His- 
tory of  the  Bur  man  Mission."  It  is  hoped 
that  the  short  account  given  in  these  pages, 
will  be  very  acceptable  to  those  who  may 
not  possess  the  works  alluded  to  above. 
Posey's  life  was  so  identified  with  the  cause 
of  Missions,  that  it  was  impossible  to  give 
his  history  without  giving  some  detailed 
account  of  the  Missionary  operations 
amongst  us. 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  13 


CHAPTER  I. 

Birth   of  Humphrey  Posey. — Education. — Habits   of 

early  life. 

Elder  Humphrey  Posey  was  born  in 
Henry  County,  Virginia,  January  12th, 
1780.  When  he  was  about  five  years  old, 
his  father  removed  to  Burke  County,  North 
Carolina,  where  young  Posey  spent  his 
childhood  and  youth.  He  was  blessed  with 
parents  who  felt  it  to  be  their  duty  to  bring 
up  their  children  in  the  nurture  and  admo- 
nition of  the  Lord.  His  mother  had  been  a 
member  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  from 
her  youth,  and  was,  we  are  informed,  a 
woman  of  considerable  reading,  and  of  very 
strong  mind.  But,  best  of  all,  she  was 
possessed  of  high-toned  piety.  She  was 
not  merely  a  Baptist  by  profession,  her 
head  and  her  heart  were  sound  in  God's 
statutes;  and  she  was    a  woman   of  true 

2 


14  SKETCH   OP   THE   LIFE 

Christian  decision.  This  last  mentioned 
trait  in  her  character,  her  son  Humphrey 
inherited  in  an  uncommon  degree.  He  was 
almost  a  stranger  to  vacillation  and  sus- 
pense in  the  performance  of  either  his 
religious  or  secular  duties.  His  mind,  like 
his  body,  never  lingered  in  its  movements. 
His  mother  taught  him,  when  but  a  child, 
having  no  spelling  book,  to  spell  and  read 
in  the  Psalter;  and  by  the  time  he  was 
seven  years  old,  he  had  read  through  the 
New  Testament  several  times,  without  the 
opportunity  of  going  to  school  more  than 
twenty  days.  Might  we  not  pause  here  for 
a  moment  to  inquire  whether  the  hand  of 
the  Lord  may  not  be  distinctly  seen  in  this 
early  period,  shaping,  through  maternal 
instrumentality,  the  mind  and  character  of 
this  poor  and  obscure  boy,  for  the  great 
work  whereunto  he  was  afterwards  called. 
May  we  not  also  see  how  the  mind,  like  the 
body,  becomes  strong  and  active  by  early 
well-directed  exercise.  It  is  a  fact  not 
unworthy  of  notice,  that  Elder  Posey  had 
an  excellent  memory,  and  he  was  remark- 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  15 

ably  familiar  with  the  word  of  God,  which 
he  had  treasured  up  in  his  heart  when  he 
was  a  child;  and  when  he  was  old  it  had 
not  departed  from  him. 

He  was  not  what  is  usually  called  an 
educated  man,  having  never  attended  school 
more  than  to  enable  him  to  read,  write,  and 
perform  the  simple  rules  of  arithmetic.  He 
never,  at  school,  studied  English  grammar. 
He  commenced  teaching  "  little  old-field 
scJioolSy"  as  he  used  to  call  them,  when 
about  seventeen  years  old.  And  as  he  who 
teaches,  learns  faster  than  he  who  is  being 
taught,  so  it  was  with  young  Posey.  He 
had  a  great  thirst  for  knowledge.  Holy 
writ  assures  us,  "  Through  desire  a  man 
having  separated  himself,  seeketh  and  inter- 
meddleth  with  all  wisdom."  Prov.  xviii.  1. 
This  Bible  truth  is  very  strikingly  illustrated 
in  his  case ;  for  he  became  what  may  be 
termed  a  good  English  scholar.  He  wrote 
and  spelled  well,  pronounced  accurately, 
spoke  grammatically,  thought  clearly,  and 
reasoned  forcibly.  He  possessed  enough  of 
good  common  sense  to  keep  him,  however, 


16  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

from  setting  himself  up  as  competent  to 
criticise  the  language  and  pronunciation  of 
those  who  had  claims  to  scholarship.  Nor 
was  he  spoiled  by  that  disgusting  dogmatism 
and  self-importance  which  are  so  frequently 
found  in  ruinous  connection  with  those  who 
are  self-taught  and  self-made,  and  who  have 
acquired  without  merit  a  kind  of  popu- 
larity amongst  their  fellows.  It  is  probably 
true,  in  some  instances,  that  "a  little  learn- 
ing is  a  dangerous  thing";  but  it  is  cer- 
tainly a  shallow  mind  that  is  intoxicated 
by  shallow  draughts. 

He  was  fond  of  vocal  music,  and  was 
well  acquainted  with  the  principles  of  that 
science.  When  young,  his  voice  was  very 
good,  and,  "  singing  with  the  spirit  and 
with  the  understanding  also,"  he  had  great 
power  over  his  congregations.  How  desira- 
ble that  a  minister  should  possess  this  gift, 
and  cultivate  it ! 

In  his  person,  Elder  Posey  was  over  the 
ordinary  size  of  men ;  with  fair  complexion, 
and  clear  blue  eyes,  he  might  be  consi- 
dered handsome.      But  he  was  more  than 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY  POSEY.  17 

this ;  he  was  dignified  and  commanding  in 
his  personal  appearance, — always  easy  and 
affable  in  his  intercourse  with  others, — 
never  phlegmatic  nor  morose. 

Many  young  men  of  the  present  day, 
should  they  ever  cast  an  eye  over  these 
pages,  will  probably  be  surprised  to  find 
that  with  opportunities  so  poor  he  should 
rise  to  so  much  distinction.  But  in  reference 
to  difficulties,  it  may  be  truly  said  of  him — 

"  Where  some  see  mountains,  he  but  atoms  sees." 

Naturalists  tell  us  that  the  wings  of  the 
ostrich  are  not  adapted  to  flying.  Their 
structure  authorizes  the  conclusion,  and 
facts  establish  it — the  ostrich  cannot  fly. 
So  it  is  with  some  minds ;  they  cannot  rise 
above  difficulties — never  can  expand,  nor 
mount,  nor  soar.  But  the  kind  Creator 
gave  the  subject  of  this  biographical  notice 
a  mind  of  superior  make — fitted  for  almost 
any  exigency.  Fixed  in  its  purpose,  it 
grasped  and  mastered  whatever  came  within 
its  reach.  Having  to  "  work  for  a  living," 
his  body  and  his  mind  were  both  greatly 

2* 


18  SKETCH    OF    THE   LIFE 

benefited.  The  one  was  healthful  and 
vigorous,  the  other  clear,  active,  and  ener- 
getic. No  dull  nor  sluggish  movements 
characterized  neither  the  one  nor  the  other. 
Indeed,  his  soul  and  his  body  seemed  to  be 
made  for  each  other. 


OF    ELDER    HUMPHREY    POSEY.  19 


CHAPTER  II. 

His  Marriage. — Conversion. — Impressions  on 
preaching. — His  Ordination. 

The  subject  of  this  Memoir  was  a  few 
days  more  than  twenty  years  old  when  he 
married.     This  marriage  would  not  be  con- 
sidered  by   Dr.    Franklin    a    misfortune; 
though  some  green  philosophers  of  the  pre- 
sent age  might  deprecate  early  marriages. 
He  selected  a  pious  wife,  though  himself,  at 
that  time,  not  professing  to  be  a  converted 
man.     He  believed  the  Bible  was  a  revela- 
tion from  God,   and  he  acted  upon   that 
belief.     As  a  lover  of  wisdom,  he  sought  a 
wife  of  whom  he  could  say,  "  She  openeth 
her  mouth  with  wisdom,  and  in  her  tongue 
is  the  law  of  kindness."  Prov.  xxxi.  26.  A 
sensible  man  will  always  endeavor  to  select 
such  a  wife.     "  She  will  do  him  good,  and 
not  evil,  all  the  days  of  her  life."    Prov. 
xxxi.  12. 


20  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

Among  the  papers  left  by  Elder  Posey, 
is  found,  in  his  own  handwriting,  a  brief 
account  of  his  religious  experience.  It  will 
be  proper  to  give  the  reader  this  account 
just  as  he  has  left  it,  that  he  may  have  a 
correct  specimen  of  his  style  in  writing; 
while  it  will  exhibit  his  views  of  the  work  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  upon  his  heart  in  an  inter- 
esting and  instructive  manner.   He  says  : — 

"  My  parents  taught  me  very  early  the 
danger  of  sin,  and  I  had  serious  thoughts 
about  a  future  state  when  very  young. 
Sometimes  I  was  afraid  to  go  to  sleep,  on 
account  of  the  dread  I  had  of  the  judg- 
ment's coming  and  finding  me  unprepared; 
and  I  was  often  terrified  with  dreams,  so 
that  I  never  could  be  said  to  enjoy  fully 
'  the  pleasures  of  sin.'  Still,  I  put  off 
seeking  the  salvation  of  my  soul  until  I 
was  about  eighteen  years  old.  I  often  pro- 
mised to  reform,  but  I  as  often  broke  my 
vows.  Now  the  subject  was  brought  home 
to  my  conscience  with  so  much  power,  that 
I  began  to  retire  into  secret  places  to  pray 
— became  very  much  dejected,  but  in  a  short 


OF    ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  21 

time  my  distress  left  me,  and  I  became  quite 
calm.  This  continued  several  years,  during 
which  time  I  never  could  allow  myself  to 
go  into  open  sin,  (and  I  will  here  state  that 
I  was  preserved,  somehow,  so  that  I  never 
swore  a  profane  oath  in  my  life,  to  my 
knowledge,)  but  still  my  mind  was  carnal. 
At  about  seventeen  years  of  age,  I  began 
teaching  'little  old-field  schools,' and  also 
vocal  music,  in  Greenville  District,  South 
Carolina.  In  the  Spring  of  1799,  I  went 
into  Union  District  to  follow  the  same  oc- 
cupation. On  the  28th  day  of  January, 
1800,  I  was  united  in  marriage  with  Lettice 
Jolly,  then  a  pious  member  of  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church.  I  taught  school,  that 
year,  in  the  same  community,  and  in  1801 
removed  into  Greenville  District.  All  this 
while  my  mind  was  occasionally  deeply  af- 
fected. Some  time  about  the  end  of  this 
year,  after  I  had  gone  to  bed,  I  fell  into  a 
doze,  and  I  was  addressed  so  plainly,  that 
I  rose  hastily  up  in  my  bed,  believing  some 
human  being  had  spoken  to  me  in  these 
words :  '  Without  you  repent  carefully  you 


22  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE. 

shall  die,  but  if  you  repent  there  is  yet  mercy 
for  you'  I  studied  the  expression,  and  be- 
lieved it  was  from  the  Lord,  and  that  it  was 
the  last  call  I  should  ,be  favored  with,  and 
I  determined  immediately  to  set  about  the 
work.  I  commenced  trying  to  pray,  but 
could  not  regulate  my  mind,  nor  feel  any 
tenderness — not  a  tear  could  I  shed.  I 
began  now  to  feel  the  corruption  of  my 
nature,  and  the  deceitfulness  of  my  heart. 
I  feared  greatly  that  I  had  sinned  away  my 
day  of  grace,  and  that  now  there  was  no 
mercy  for  me.  I  could  see  how  Christ  could 
save  others,  but  mine  was  a  peculiar  case, 
I  could  not  do  any  thing  at  all  in  the  right 
way.  I  could  not  mourn  for  sin  right,  nor 
pray  right ;  and  every  effort  I  made  seemed 
to  plunge  me  deeper  into  the  mire.  This 
state  of  feeling  continued  nearly  a  month, 
and  I  went  to  a  Baptist  meeting,  on  the 
Lord's-day,  when,  to  my  surprise,  a  large 
congregation  was  in  attendance,  and  sing- 
ing ;  which  had  not  been  the  case  there  for 
a  long  time  previous.  It  struck  me  there 
would  be  a  revival,  and  I  went  in  under 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY    POSEY.  23 

very  solemn  impressions.  There  were  two 
sermons  preached,  with  no  apparent  effect ; 
but  when  the  preaching  was  closed,  a  Pres- 
byterian gentleman,  by  request,  got  up  and 
described  a  camp-meeting  which  he  had 
attended  just  previous  to  this,  and  which 
was,  probably,  the  first  in  the  State.  The 
description  was  given  in  such  a  manner  that 
it  affected  the  whole  congregation,  and  my 
hard  heart  was  softened,  so  that  I  shed  tears 
freely.  A  lively  exhortation  ensued,  and 
an  invitation  to  seekers  being  given,  I  was 
probably  the  first  to  go  forward  to  give  the 
preacher  my  hand  to  be  prayed  for.  I  was 
glad  that  I  could  weep,  and  I  felt  that  I 
would  rather  stay  right  there  than  to  go 
home ;  but  still  I  could  not  think  that  my 
sins  were  forgiven.  But  I  could  now  pray 
with  some  fervor,  and  therefore  hoped  there 
was  yet  mercy  for  me.  I  went  home,  and 
my  sadness  increased.  In  the  morning  I 
took  up  the  hymn-book,  and  commenced 
singing  the  hymn  beginning — 

1  How  happy  are  they 

Who  their  Saviour  obey,'  &c. 


24  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

"  I  thought  they  were  the  happiest  people 
in  the  world  ;  but  here  was  I,  a  sinner,  who 
had  no  part  in  it.  I  laid  down  the  book 
and  retired  for  secret  prayer,  which,  I  think, 
I  engaged  in  about  four  times  that  night ; 
but  found  no  relief.  This  struggle  continued 
about  four  days  and  nights,  during  which 
time  sins  that  had  been  long  committed 
came  fresh  to  my  recollection.  I  felt  that 
I  was  in  the  worst  condition  of  any  sinner, 
mainly  on  account  of  the  badness  of  my 
heart.  I  thought  I  was  not  fit  to  be  on  this 
earth,  and  acknowledged  from  my  heart 
that  if  God  should  send  me  to  hell  it  would 
be  just,  and  I  could  not  see  how  he  could 
be  just  and  save  me.  My  anguish  was  past 
expression.  About  the  fourth  night,  I  went 
almost  in  despair,  and  kneeled  down  by  a 
pile  of  rocks  in  my  field,  and  having  found 
so  many  evils  in  my  heart,  and  not  willing 
to  remain  in  ignorance  of  my  real  character, 
I  begged  the  Lord  to  show  me  the  worst  of 
my  case,  and  if  there  was  mercy  in  store  for 
such  a  hell-deserving  wretch,  for  the  dear 
Redeemer's  sake,  to  let  it  be  bestowed.     In 


OF   ELDER    HUMPHREY   POSE*.  25 

this  agony,  light  broke  into  my  soul,  with 
an  impression  like  this,  c  Thy  sins  are  for- 
given thee.'     My  soul  was  filled  with  joy, 
and  it  appeared  to  me  astonishing  that  I 
had  not  sooner  discovered  the  way  of  salva- 
tion through  Jesus  Christ.     My  mind  was 
now  drawn  out  for  the  salvation  of  sinners.* 
I  thought  I  could  tell  them  so  plainly  the 
way,  that  they  would  certainly  believe  and 
be  saved.    But  notwithstanding  I  could  see 
the  way  so  plainly  for  others,  I  thought  I 
was  not  a  Christian,  because  I  had  not  been 
sufficiently  convicted.     I  would  retire  into 
the  woods,  and  beg  the  Lord  not  to  let  me 
be    deceived.     I  wished   my  burden   back 
ao-ain,  that  I  might  watch  more  closely,  and 
if  the  Lord  would  remove  it,  I  would  know 
more  about  it..  I  also  thought  if  I  was  truly 
converted,  there  would  be  more  of  a  revolu- 
tion in  my  whole  man.    And  while  I  would 
be  thus  engaged,  my  mind  would  become 
sensibly  attracted  with   the  beauties   and 
excellencies  of  the   Saviour,   and   I  could 
experience  a  joy  unspeakable ;  but  presently 

*  This  feeling  always  attends  conversion. 

3 


26  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

I  would  get  into  the  same  old  distress,  and 
conclude  that  I  could  not  be  a  Christian. 
This  lasted  about  four  days  before  I  could 
fully  claim  the  promise.  And  even  then  I 
continued  to  doubt,  frequently,  my  accept- 
ance with  God,  seeing  so  much  imperfection 
in  every  thing  I  did.  But  on  the  10th  day  of 
June,  1802, 1  ventured  to  tell  to  the  church 
what  the  Lord  had  done,  as  I  hoped,  for 
my  soul,  and  I  was  received.  On  the  next 
day  I  was  baptized  ;  and  coming  up  out  of 
the  water,  I  had  a  strong  desire  to  exhort 
the  people,  but  the  enemy  of  my  soul  sug- 
gested, '  You  have  gone  too  far  already ;  for 
in  a  short  time  you  will  turn  out  as  bad  as 
ever' — and  I  yielded,  and  said  nothing. 
But  it  was  to  me  one  of  the  most  happy 
days  of  my  life.  I  felt  that  I  was  honored 
inexpressibly  to  be  permitted  to  follow  my 
Saviour.*  A  sense  of  my  own  unworthiness 
was  my  only  grief. 

*  This  feeling  is  common  to  all  baptized  believers. 
— They  have  "  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience."  1 
Pet.  iii.  21.  The  Eunuch  "went  on  his  way  rejoic- 
ing."    Acts.  viii.  39.  R.  F. 


OF    ELDER    HUMPHREY   POSEY.  27 

"  I  now  had  a  severe  struggle,  for  I  found 
myself  troubled  with  vain  thoughts,  and 
concluded,  that  if  I  was  a  Christian  I  cer- 
tainly could  get  clear  of  them.  I  prayed 
and  strove  for  some  time  against  them,  and 
still  found  these  enemies  haunting  me,  until 
it  was  impressed  as  strongly  upon  my  mind 
as  if  it  had  been  a  human  voice  ;  In  your- 
self you  are  a  poor  helpless  creature,  and 
all  your  strength  and  sufficiency  are  in 
Christ."  This  gave  me  considerable  relief. 
My  mind  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  lost 
state  of  sinners,  which  impression  extended 
to  heathen  nations,  with  such  vehemence, 
that  I  frequently  shed  tears  on  the  subject. 
A  sense  of  my  unworthiness  kept  me  back 
until  my  mind  became  so  earnestly  drawn 
out,  that  one  Lord's-day  night  at  a  camp- 
meeting  at  the  church  where  my  member- 
ship was,  I  exhorted  and  prayed  for  the 
first  time  publicly.  From  this  period  I  went 
on,  occasionally  exhorting,  and  sometimes 
saying  a  few  things  on  some  passage  of 
Scripture.  But  I  labored  almost  constantly 
under  awful  doubts,  as  to  my  gracious  state. 


28  SKETCH    OF   THE    LIFE 

When   I   had   appointments    to   preach,  I 
would  frequently  wish  they  had  not  been 
made,  such  was  my  sense  of  my  unworthi- 
ness.     I    would   then   think    of  exhorting 
sinners,  as  I  felt  unfit  to  address  Christians ; 
but  as  I  would  proceed  in  my  exhortations, 
I  would  become  so  filled  with  the  love  of 
the   Saviour,  that  I  would  get  all  on  fire, 
as  it  were,  and  would  be  telling  the  Chris- 
tians how  happy  they  would  be  in  heaven. 
One  day  I  was  deeply  distressed  with  the 
state  of  my  heart,  and  was  reading  a  book* 
in  which  the  author  was  treating  on  experi- 
mental  religion.     He  said,    '  None  but  a 
true  believer  mourns  over  a  hard  heart.'    I 
knew  I  was  mourning  over  my  hard  heart. 
Tears  flowed  freely,  and  my  doubts  were 
gone  for  a  time  ;  but  they  returned.    I  was 
strongly  tempted  to  disbelieve  the  reality  of 
religion,  and  even  the  existence  of  God ;  and 
this  temptation  was  so  strong,  that  I  was 
afraid  to  breathe  without  prayer.     My  con- 
stant prayer  was,   'Lord    have   mercy  on 
me,  and  deliver  me  from  this  temptation.' 

*  What  a  blessing  to  have  good  books  to  read !    R.  F. 


OF    ELDER    HUMPHREY   POSEY.  29 

This  continued  some  time.  I  was  teaching 
a  school,  and  one  afternoon  an  awful 
thunder-storm  arose,  which  frightened  the 
children  very  greatly  during  its  continuance. 
These  words  of  the  poet  occurred  to  my 
mind — 

'  The  God  that  rules  on  high, 

And  thunders  when  he  please  ; 
That  rides  upon  the  stormy  sky 
And  manages  the  seas  ; — 

This  awful  God  is  mine, 

My  father  and  my  love, 
He  will  send  down  his  heavenly  powers, 

To  carry  me  above.' 

"  Here  my  doubts  were  removed,  and  an 
impression  was  left  on  my  mind  which  has 
been  beneficial  ever  since  ;  and  those  awful 
temptations  have  never  been  permitted  to 
return.  Here,  too,  I  may  adopt  the  lan- 
guage of  the  hymn— '  Blessed  be  the  name 
of  the  Lord,' — 

1  Many  days  have  passed  since  then, 
Many  changes  I  have  seen ; 
Yet  have  been  upheld  till  now — 
Who  could  hold  me  up  but  thou  ?' 
3* 


30  SKETCH    OF   THE   LIFE 

"  I  obtained  license  to  preach  in  Union 
District,  South  Carolina,  in  1803,  and  in 
1804  removed  to  Buncombe  county,  North 
Carolina,  on  account  of  bad  health.  On  the 
third  day  of  August,  I  preached  my  first 
sermon  there.  I  then  went  preaching  about 
through  '  the  hill  country,'  inviting  sinners 
to  come  to  the  Saviour  ; — telling  them  the 
way  of  salvation  through  the  Redeemer. 

"  In  1805,  I  commenced  preaching,  in 
evenings,  in  a  destitute  settlement,  near 
where  I  was  teaching  a  school  on  Cane 
Creek.  Brother  James  "VYhitaker  and  my- 
self drew  up  Articles  of  Faith,  as  we  could 
not  find  any  in  the  country;  and  we  col- 
lected all  the  members  intending  to  be  in 
the  constitution,  and  examined  them  on  the 
Articles.  All  being  agreed,  a  presbytery 
was  invited  to  attend.  The  presbytery  was 
pleased  with  our  Articles  of  Faith,  and  so 
the  church  was  organized.  Two  of  the 
members  were,  at  the  same  time,  ordained 
to  the  deacon's  office,  and  I  was  ordained 
to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  At  the  next 
meeting,  I  baptized  four  professed  believers, 


OF    ELDER    HUMPHREY   POSEY.  31 

and  the  work  of  the  Lord  continued  for  a 
length  of  time.  Some  were  received  for 
baptism  at  almost  every  meeting." 

Thus  closes  the  account  which  Elder 
Posey  gives  of  his  conversion,  and  of  his 
introduction  into  the  work  of  the  gospel 
ministry.  Had  he  lived  a  few  years  longer, 
he  no  doubt  would  have  completed  his  de- 
sign, and  the  public  would  have  been  put 
in  possession  of  a  full  account  of  his  labors 
at  Valley  Towns,  and  among  the  Indians 
elsewhere.  He  would  have  given  a  general 
history  of  his  abundant  services  after  his 
removal  from  the  Cherokee  country. 


32  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 


CHAPTER  III. 

Revival  of  the  Missionary  Cause  among  Baptists  in 
Europe — Among  the  Baptists  in  America. — Ameri- 
can Board  of  Commissioners. — Triennial  Convention. 
— Valley  Town  Mission  among  the  Cherokee  Indians.- 
— Mr.  Posey's  agency  and  influence  among  them. 

To  be  truly  a  Christian  minister,  is  to  be 
a  Christian  missionary  ;  and  he  who  has  the 
spirit  of  Christ  possesses  the  genuine  mis- 
sionary spirit.  Whoever  reads  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles  must  perceive  that  the  early  dis- 
ciples possessed  this  spirit  in  a  large  measure. 
The  Acts  of  the  Apostles  may,  with  much 
propriety,  be  considered  a  Missionary  Jour- 
nal of  the  labors  of  the  inspired  heralds  of 
salvation.  When  the  blessed  Jesus  com- 
missioned his  apostles  to  "  Go  into  all  the 
world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  crea- 
ture," he  fitted  them  for  the  work  by  im- 
parting to  them  his  own  spirit,  "  good  will 
to  men' — to  all  men.     Where  this  is  want- 


OF   ELDER    HUMPHREY   POSEY.  33 

ng,  no  matter  •what  else  the  individual  may 
possess,  the  life — the  soul  of  the  commission 
is  wanting,  and  the  individual  is  not  moved 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  preach — is  not  called 
of  God  to  the  work. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  whenever 
the  Great  Head  of  the  Church  is  about  to 
accomplish  a  peculiar  purpose  of  mercy 
towards  mankind,  he  invariably  pours  out  a 
spirit  of  prayer  and  supplication  upon  his 
people  ;  who,  like  the  disciples  on  the  day 
of  Pentecost,  present,  "with  one  accord," 
their  petitions  before  the  throne  of  grace, 
and  plead  the  promises  on  which  their 
Divine  and  exalted  Master  had  previously 
caused  them  to  rest.  This  was  literally  the 
fact  in  respect  to  the  churches  and  ministers 
of  the  Baptist  denomination  in  England.  It 
is  worthy  of  record  that  the  "  concert  for 
prayer,"  one  hour  on  the  first  Monday 
evening  in  every  month,  originated  at  a 
Baptist  association,  held  at  Nottingham, 
England,  in  1784.  The  object  of  this  con- 
cert-prayer meeting  was  declared  to  be, 
"  For  the  revival  of  genuine  religion,  and 


34  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

the  extension  of  the  Redeemer  s  kingdom 
throughout  the  earth."  In  a  short  time 
thousands  of  the  pious  of  all  denominations, 
in  England  and  America,  united  to  present 
their  prayers  to  him  who  has  all  power  in 
heaven  and  in  earth,  for  the  accomplishment 
of  this  glorious  result.  Not  only  with  the 
Baptists  of  England  originated  the  monthly 
concert-prayer  meeting,  but  with  them  origi- 
nated the  first  regularly  organized  purely 
evangelical  Foreign  Missionary  Society  in 
that  country.*  In  answer  to  the  prayers 
of  the  friends  of  Jesus  Christ,  God  brought 
forward  that  remarkable  man,  Rev.  William 
Carey,  from  obscurity,  full  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  wisdom,  and  sent  him  out  to 
British  India,  where  he  planted  the  stand- 
ard of  Gospel  truth.     His  motto  was 

"  Expect  great  things  from  God  ; — 
'  Attempt  great  things  for  God." 

In  America,  we  soon  after  notice  a  simi- 
lar movement  in  the  cause  of  Christ.     The 

*  See  Choules'  History  of  Missions,  and  the  History 
of  the  English  Baptist  Missionary  Society. 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY  POSEY.  35 

souls  of  some  pious  young  men  at  college, 
preparing  "  for  the  work  of  the  ministry," 
were  warmed  up  with  the  spirit  of  Christ — 
the  spirit  of  missions.  They  began  to 
wrestle  with  God  in  prayer,  and  seek  direc- 
tion in  the  great  work  whereunto  they  felt 
he  had  called  them. 

"It  is  difficult,"  says  Dr.  Choules  in  his 
History  of  Missions,  to  "  obtain  a  minute 
account  of  the  original  foundation  and 
agents  of  the  Missions  from  America.  "With 
that  denominational  feeling  which  is  com- 
mon, the  Baptists  and  the  Congregational- 
ists,  each  claim  for  their  own  missionaries, 
the  honor  of  the  first  movement,  in  the 
attempt  to  evangelise  a  portion  of  the  world 
through  the  American  churches.  The  Bap- 
tists assign  the  laurel  to  Adoniram  Judson, 
while  the  Congregationalists  claim  it  for 
Samuel  John  Mills.  Upon  such  a  subject, 
where  such  noble  spirits  are  the  actors,  it 
would  be  wrong  to  contend.  Indeed,  such 
respect  have  we  for  the  piety,  the  benevo- 
lence and  zeal,  both  of  Judson  and  Mills, 
that  we  esteem  it  a  matter  of  but  little  im- 


36  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

portance,  to  say  which  of  the  two  was  the 
honored  instrument  of  God  in  commencing 
so  glorious  a  work." 

As  Elder  Posey  was  almost  all  his  life  in 
the  work  of  the  ministry,  and  intimately 
connected  with  the  great  work  of  Missions 
to  the  Cherokee  Indians,  we  have  thought 
proper  to  call  the  reader's  attention  to  a 
brief  sketch  of  the  origin  of  missions  in 
these  United  States.  And  in  order  to  do 
this  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  insert,  in  this 
place,  an  extract  from  a  letter  from  the  pen 
of  Mr.  Judson  himself,*  written  to  Elder 
Luther  Rice.     He  says — 

"  My  Dear  Brother  Rice : 

"You  ask  me  to  give  you  some  account 
of  my  first  missionary  impressions,  and  then 
of  my  early  associates.  Mine  were  occa- 
sioned by  reading  Buchanan's  '  Star  in  the 
East,'  in  the  year  1809,  at  Andover  Theo- 
logical Seminary.  Though  I  do  not  now  con- 
sider that  sermon  as  peculiarly  excellent,  it 
produced   a  powerful  effect  on  my  mind. 

*  See  Rice's  Memoir,  page  81. 


OF   ELDER   HUMPIIREY  POSEY.  37 

For  some  clays,  I  was  unable  to  attend  to 
the  studies  of  my  class,  and  spent  my  time 
in  wondering  at  my  past  stupidity,  depict- 
ing the  most  romantic  scenes  in  missionary 
life,  and  roving  about  the  college  rooms, 
declaiming  on  the  subject  of  missions.  My 
views  were  very  incorrect,  and  my  feelings 
extravagant;  but  yet  I  have  always  felt 
thankful  to  God  for  bringing  me  into  a 
state  of  excitement,  which  was,  perhaps,  ne- 
cessary, in  the  first  instance,  to  enable  me  to 
break  the  strong  attachments  I  felt  to  home 
and  country,  and  to  endure  the  thought  of 
abandoning  all  my  wonted  pursuits  and 
animating  prospects.  That  excitement  soon 
passed  away,  but  it  left  a  strong  desire  to 
prosecute  my  inquiries,  and  to  ascertain  the 
path  of  duty. 

"  It  was  during  a  solitary  walk  in  the 
woods,  behind  the  college,  while  meditating 
and  praying  on  the  subject,  and  feeling  half 
inclined  to  give  it  up,  that  the  command  of 
Christ,  "  Go  into  all  the  world  and  preach 
the  gospel  to  every  creature,"  was  presented 
to  my  mind  with  such  clearness  and  power, 

4 


38  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

that  I  came  to  a  full  decision  ;  and  though 
great  difficulties  appeared  in  my  way,  re- 
solved to  obey  the  command  at  all  events. 
But  at  that  period,  no  provision  had  been 
made  in  America,  for  a  foreign  mission  ;  and 
for  several  months  after  reading  Buchanan, 
I  found  none  among  the  students  who  viewed 
the  subject  as  I  did,  and  no  minister  in  the 
place  or  neighborhood,  who  gave  me  any 
encouragement ;  and  I  thought  I  should  be 
under  the  necessity  of  going  to  England, 
and  placing  myself  under  foreign  patronage. 
"  My  earliest  missionary  associate  was 
Nott,  who,  though  he  had  recently  entered 
the  Seminary,  (in  the  early  part  of  1810,) 
was  a  member  of  the  same  class  with 
myself.  He  had  considered  the  subject  for 
several  months,  but  had  not  fully  made  up 
his  mind.  About  the  same  time  Mills, 
Richards  and  others  joined  the  seminary 
from  Williams'  College,  where  they  had,  for 
some  time,  been  in  the  habit  of  meeting  for 
prayer  and  conversation  on  the  subject  of 
missions;  but  they  entered  the  junior 
class,  and  had  several  years  of  theological 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  39 

study  before  them.  Newell  was  the  next 
accession  from  my  own  class.  As_for  Hall, 
he  was  preaching  at  Woodbury,  Connecti- 
cut. I  heard  that  he  once  thought  favora- 
bly  of  missions,  and  I  wrote  him  a  short 
letter.  He  had  just  received  a  call  to  settle 
in  that  place,  and  was  deliberating  whether 
it  was  his  duty  to  accept  it  or  not,  when  the 
letter  was  put  into  his  hand.  He  instantly 
came  to  a  decision ;  and  the  next  rising  sun 
saw  him  on  his  way  to  Andover.  I  think 
he  arrived  about  the  time  of  the  meeting 
of  the  General  Association  of  Ministers  at 
Bradford,  in  the  summer  of  1810.  I  do  not, 
however,  recollect  him  present  at  that  meet- 
ing, nor  was  his  name  attached  to  the 
paper' which  was  presented  to  the  associa- 
tion, and  which  was  originally  signed  by 
Nott,  Newell,  Mills,  Rice,  Richards  and 
myself;  though  at  the  suggestion  of  Dr. 
Spring,  your  name  and  Richards',  (which 
happened  to  be  last,)  were  struck  off,  for 
fear  of  alarming  the  association  with  too 
large  a  number. 

"  I  have  thought  that  the  providence  of 


40  SKETCH   OF  THE   LIFE 

God  was  conspicuously  manifested  in  bring- 
ing us  all  together  from  different  and  distant 
parts.  Some  of  us  had  been  considering 
the  subject  of  missions  a  long  time,  and 
some  but  recently.  Some,  and  indeed  the 
greater  part,  had  thought  chiefly  of  domestic 
missions,  and  efforts  among  the  neighboring 
tribes  of  Indians,  without  contemplating  the 
abandonment  of  country,  and  devotement 
for  life.  How  evident  it  is,  that  the  Spirit 
of  God  had  been  operating  in  different 
places,  upon  different  individuals,  preparing 
the  way  for  those  movements  which  have 
since  pervaded  the  American  churches,  and 
will  continue  to  increase  until  the  kingdoms 
of  this  world  become  the  kingdom  of  our 
Lord  and  his  anointed." 

In  referring  to  this  interesting  era  in  the 
history  of  the  missionary  enterprise,  by  the 
American  churches,  it  will  be  justifiable  on 
the  part  of  the  writer,  as  it  will  be  profita- 
ble to  the  reader,  to.  introduce  a  quotation 
from  a  letter  of  Elder  Luther  Rice  to  a 
friend.     He  says  : — 

"  After  the  society  at  Andover  was  well 


OF   ELDER    IIWMPHREY   POSEY.  41 

established,  the  views  of  the  brethren  were 
turned  very  much  towards  the  East.  Judson 
was  the  first,  as  far  as  I  know,  who  men- 
tioned Burmah.  He  had  read  Buchanan's 
'  Star  in  the  East,'  his  6  Christian  Researches 
in  Asia,'  and  '  Captain  Simon's  Embassy  to 
Ava.'  He  insisted  that  the  East  afforded 
much  the  widest  and  most  promising  field 
for  missionary  exertions,  and  that  the  path 
of  duty  led  him  in  that  direction. 

"  In  June,  1810,  Gordon  Hall,  who  had 
been  preaching  some  time,  and  who  had 
been  invited  to  become  the  pastor  of  a 
church  in  Connecticut,  came  to  Andover  to 
consult  with  the  professors  whether  he  ought 
not  to  hold  himself  devoted  to  missionary 
labor  among  the  heathen.  (0  !  how  I  love 
to  trace  important  events  to  minute  inci- 
dents !)  It  happened  to  be  but  a  day  or 
two  before  the  meeting  of  the  General  As- 
sociation of*  all  the  evangelical  part  of  the 
ministers  of  Massachusetts,  at  Bradford, 
where  the  parents  of  Ann  Hasseltine  lived, 
ten  miles  from  the  institution,  in  Andover. 


"  The  coming,  and  the  object  of  the  com- 

4* 


42  SKETCH   OF  'THE    LIFE 

ing  of  Hall,  so  enlivened  the  missionary 
sentiments  and  feelings,  particularly  in  the 
bosoms  of  the  members  of  the  Society,  that 
Judson  immediately  wrote  the  memorial,* 

*  The  following  is  the  Memorial  alluded  to,  in  Mrs. 
Ann  H.  Judson's  Life,  page  39.  See  also  Choules' 
History  of  Missions,  vol.  ii.  page  23G. 

"  The  undersigned,  members  of  the  Divinity  Col- 
lege, respectfully  request  the  attention  of  their  reve- 
rend fathers,  convened  in  the  General  Association  at 
Bradford,  to  the  following  statement  and  inquiries. 

They  beg  leave  to  state,  that  their  minds  have  been 
long  impressed  with  the  duty  and  importance  of  per- 
sonally attempting  a  mission  to  the  heathen  ;  that  the 
impressions  on  their  minds  have  induced  a  serious, 
and,  they  trust,  a  prayerful  consideration  of  the  sub- 
ject in  its  various  attitudes,  particularly  in  relation  to 
the  probable  success  and  the  difficulties  attending  such 
an  attempt ;  and  that  after  examining  all  the  informa- 
tion which  they  can  obtain,  they  consider  themselves 
as  devoted  to  this  work  for  life,  whenever  God,  in  his 
providence,  shall  open  the  way. 

They  now  offer  the  following  inquiries,  on  which 
they  solicit  the  opinion  and  advice  of  the  Association  | 
whether  with  their  present  views  and  feelings  they 
ought  to  renounce  the  object  of  missions  as  visionary 
or  impracticable ;  if  not,  whether  they  ought  to  direct 
their  attention  to  the  Eastern  or  the  Western  world ; 
whether  they  may  expect  patronage  and  support  from 


OF    ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  43 

which  you  see  in  the  Memoirs  of  Mrs.  Ann 
H.  Judson,  addressed  to  that  body  of  min- 
isters."    (See  Rice's  Memoir,  page  86.) 

a  missionary  society  in  this  country,  or  must  commit 
themselves  to  the  direction  of  a  European  society,  and 
what  preparatory  measures  they  ought  to  take,  pre- 
vious to  actual  engagement. 

The  undersigned,  feeling  their  youth  and  inexperi- 
ence, look  up  to  their  fathers  in  the  church,  and 
respectfully  solicit  their  advice,  direction  and  prayers. 

Adoniram  Judson,  Jr., 
Samuel  Nott,  Jr., 
Samuel  J.  Mills, 
Samuel  Newell, 
James  Richards, 
Luther  Rice." 

It  will  be  remembered  that  when  Judson  drew  up 
the  above  memorial,  it  was  signed  as  above ;  but 
before  it  was  laid  before  the  Association  at  Bradford, 
it  was  deemed  prudent  to  strike  off  the  two  last  names, 
lest  so  great  a  number  would  embarrass  their  opera- 
tions, and  defeat  the  cherished  object  of  their  desires. 
— The  reader  may  feel  anxious  to  know  what  has  been 
the  destiny — the  end  of  those  master-spirits  in  the 
great  work  of  evangelizing  the  heathen.  Men  whose 
souls,  like  Humphrey  Posey's,  burned  with  holy 
enthusiasm,  for  the  salvation  of  their  benighted  fel- 
low-men. 

Judsox. — First  on  the  Memorial,  was  the  last  on 


44  SKETCH   OP   THE   LIFE 

The  above  association  of  Congregation- 
alists  appointed  a  committee,  to  whom  the 
memorial  was  referred.     The  committee  re- 

the  mission  field.  He  died  fifteen  minutes  past  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  May  the  12th,  1850,  on 
board  the  French  barque  Aristide  Marie,  bound  for 
the  Isle  of  Bourbon.  At  8  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of 
the  same  day  he  was  committed  to  the  deep  in  lati- 
tude IB  degrees  North,  longitude  93  East.  He  lived 
to  translate  the  Bible  into  the  Burman  language,  and 
had  nearly  finished  a  great  Dictionary  of  the  Burman 
language.     He  was  in  Burmah  near  37  years. 

Mills. — Died  June  16, 1818. — Buried  in  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  on  his  way  to  England  from  a  mission  to 
Africa. 

Newell. — Died  of  cholera  at  Bombay,  India,  May 
30,  1821. 

Richards. — Died  August  3,  1822,  in  Ceylon. 

Rice. — Died  in  Edgefield  District,  South  Carolina, 
Sept.  25,  1836. 

Nott. — After  his  arrival  at  Calcutta,  his  health 
became  poor,  and  it  was  deemed  advisable  for  him  to 
return  to  America,  He  is  the  pastor  of  the  Congre- 
gational church,  in  Wareham,  Massachusetts.  When 
Dr.  Judson  visited  America,  Nott,  hearing  of  his 
arrival,  set  out  for  Boston  with  all  speed  to  greet 
him.  It  was  in  Bowdoin  Square  church,  while  they 
were  singing,  he  passed  rapidly  up  the  aisle  into  the 
pulpit,  and  embraced  Dr.  J.  with  uncommon  warmth 
and  ardor — which  was  as  ardently  reciprocated.  Mr. 
Nott  is  probably  still  at  Wareham.  R.  F. 


OF  ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  45 

ported  favorably,  and  consequently  nine 
commissioners  were  appointed  by  the  same 
body.  They  formed  in  September,  1810, 
the  constitution  of  the  "American  Board  of 
Commissioners  for  Foreign  3fissions;,^hich. 

now   embraces  the    entire  Congregational 
and  Presbyterian  denominations. 

"  From  this  arose,"  continues  Elder  Rice, 
in  his  letter,  "the  Baptist  General  Conven- 
tion, formed  in  May,  1814,  and  since  more 
or  less  distinctly  out  of  the  same  range  of 
evangelical  influence,  the  American  Bible 
Society,  the  American  Tract  Society,  the 
Baptist  General  Tract  Society,  [now  the 
American  Baptist  Publication  Society,]  the 
Columbian  College,  the  Newton  Theological 
Institution,  and  I  know  not  how  many  other 
things  of  more  or  less  importance.  Glory 
be  to  God." 

After  the  formation  of  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, Mr.  Judson  and  his  associates  ex- 
pected and  desired  an  immediate  appoint- 
ment as  missionaries.  But  the  Board  being 
as  yet  unprovided  with  funds,  Mr.  Judson 


46  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

solicited  and  obtained  leave  of  the  Board  to 
visit  England,  to  ascertain  whether  any 
measures  of  co-operation  could  be  concerted 
between  the  London  Missionary  Society 
and  the  American  Board,  and  whether  any 
assistance  could  be  obtained  from  that  So- 
ciety in  case  the  Board  should  be  unable  to 
sustain  a  mission.  He  sailed  in  January, 
1811,  for  England.  But  no  concert  of 
measures  could  be  arranged.  The  London 
Society  agreed  to  support  Mr.  Judson  and 
his  companions  as  missionaries,  if  the  Ame- 
rican Board  should  not  be  able  to  do  it. 
He  returned  to  America,  and  the  Board 
resolved  to  sustain  a  mission  to  Burmah, 
and  Judson,  Nott,  Newell  and  Hall,  were 
immediately  appointed.  Mr.  Rice  was  ap- 
pointed afterwards.  On  the  6th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1812,  they  were  ordained  in  the 
Tabernacle  church  in  Salem,  Massachusetts, 
On  the  18th  of  June,  1812,  they  landed  in 
Calcutta,  where  they  were  met  and  wel- 
comed to  India,  by  the  venerable  Dr.  Carey, 
Baptist  Missionary  from  England.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.    Judson    remained  in    Calcutta   two 


OF  ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  47 

months,  during  which  time  Mr.  Judson  and 
his  wife,  and  also  Mr.  Rice,  who  had  now 
arrived  in  India,  became  convinced  that  their 
sentiments  on  baptism  were  unsupported  by 
the  Word  of  God,  and  they  became  Baptists. 
Mr.  Judson's  doubts  commenced  while  en- 
gaged in  translating  the  New  Testament, 
on  his  passage  from  America,  and  he  fre- 
quently said  during  the  voyage,   that  the 
Baptists  were  right  in  their  views  on  the 
subject.     On  the  first  Lord's-day  in   Sep- 
tember, 1812,  he  and  his  wife  were  baptized 
by  Dr.   Carey;    and  on  the   first  day  of 
November  following,  Luther  Rice  was  bap- 
tized by  Mr.  Ward.     This  change  of  senti- 
ment on  the   part  of  these   distinguished 
movers  of  the  great  mission  cause  among 
the  Congregationalists  necessarily  produced 
their   separation  from  the  patronage  and 
support  of  the   American   Board,  and   of 
course  they  had  now  to  look  for  support  in 
some  other  quarter.     Mr.  Judson  therefore 
addressed  a  letter  to  Dr.  Bolles,  Baptist 
minister,    of    Salem,    in   which    he   says: 
"  Under  these  circumstances  I  look  to  you. 


48  SKETCH  OF   THE   LIFE 

Alone,  in  this  foreign  heathen  land,  I  make 
my  appeal  to  those,  whom,  with  their  per- 
mission, I  will  call  my  Baptist  brethren  in 
the  United  States." 

It  was  now  decidedly  the  opinion  of  Jud- 
son  and  Rice,  that  they  must  rely  on  the 
Baptist  denomination  in  America  for  sup- 
port. Rice,  therefore,  returned  to  the  land 
of  his  birth  to  stir  up  the  Baptists  to  the 
work  of  the  Lord  in  the  support  of  foreign 
missions.  It  was  on  the  7th  of  September, 
1813,  he  arrived  at  New  York.  But  as  the 
Board  of  Commissioners  was  to  meet  in 
Boston  on  the  15th,  he  hastened  on  to  dis- 
charge what  he  considered  his  obligations 
to  the  Board.  The  Board  treated  him  and 
his  communications,  in  reference  to  his  be- 
coming a  Baptist,  very  coolly.  They  voted 
that  they  considered  the  relation  between 
him  and  the  Board  dissolved,  from  the  date 
of  his  letter  from  Calcutta,  announcing  the 
fact  of  his  change  of  sentiment. 

In  consulting  with  the  Baptist  brethren 
in  Boston,  it  was  thought  necessary  to  pro- 
ceed, at  once,  to  the  adoption  of  measures 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  49 

which  might  excite  the  Baptists  of  this 
country  to  combine  their  energies  in  the 
mission  cause.  They  concluded  to  call  a 
meeting  of  delegates  from  different  parts  of 
the  country,  as  soon  as  practicable,  to  em- 
body the  energies  of  the  denomination,  for 
the  purpose  of  conducting  these  operations 
on  an  enlarged  scale.  In  September,  1813, 
Rice  set  out  from  Boston  on  a  tour  to- 
wards the  South,  in  order  to  accomplish 
the  designs  above  stated.  He  visited  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  Washington,  Richmond, 
Charleston,  and  Savannah,  and  many  parts 
of  Georgia,  Carolina,  and  Virginia,  laying 
before  the  brethren,  wherever  he  went,  the 
objects  of  his  mission ;  and  he  found  them 
ready  to  co-operate  with  him.  Delegates 
met  in  Philadelphia  on  the  18th  of  May, 
1814,  from  different  parts  of  the  United 
States,  and  after  a  careful  consideration  of 
the  whole  subject,  for  several  days,  they 
decided,  unanimously,  to  form  a  "  General 
Convention  of  the  Baptist  denomination  in 
the  United  States  for  Foreign  Missions." 


50  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

This  was  afterwards  denominated  the  Tri- 
ennial Convention,  and  has  generally  been 
spoken  of  in  this  way. 

Thus  we  have  given  a  brief  account  of 
the  origin  of  those  great  missionary  combi- 
nations which  have  been  in  very  successful 
operation  in  England  and  America  for  a 
number  of  years.  We  have  seen  that  the 
Baptists  have  had  great  agency  in  awaken- 
ing up  and  putting  in  motion  the  slumbering 
energies  of  the  people  of  God  on  both  con- 
tinents. We  have  seen  with  what  zeal  that 
distinguished  servant  of  the  Lord,  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Carey,  was  fired  amongst  his  kindred 
spirits  in  Great  Britain.  And  we  have 
witnessed  the  rise  and  the  growing  interest 
of  missions  in  this  glorious  land  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty. 

The  names  of  Judson,  Rice,  and  others, 
who  labored  with  them,  will  long  be 
cherished  in  the  recollection  of  American 
churches.  Though  they  now  rest  from  their 
labors,  their  works  do  follow  them.  And 
though  the  mortal  remains  of  Rice  sleep 
quietly   in   the  dust   at    "  Pine  Pleasant 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  51 

Church"  in  Edgefield,  South  Carolina — 
and  though  Adonirara  Judson  has  gone 
down  beneath  the  dark  wave  of  the  Indian 
Ocean,  to  await  the  period  when  "the  sea 
shall  give  up  her  dead,"  yet  they  are  not 
forgotten — they  shall  be  "in  everlasting 
remembrance." 

But  we  must  return  from  this  apparent 
digression.  The  reader  will  probably  ask, 
What  has  this  sketch  of  the  rise  and  pro- 
gress of  modem  missions  to  do  with  the 
history  of  Humphrey  Posey?  Let  it  be 
remembered,  in  answer  to  this  question, 
that  while  the  God  of  missions  w7as  raising 
up  men  to  go  far  hence  to  the  gentiles, — to 
the  benighted  nations  of  the  Eastern  conti- 
nent,— he  was  moving  the  spirit  of  this 
obscure  man,  in  the  "  hill  country"  of 
North  Carolina,  to  proclaim  the  way  of 
salvation  to  the  Cherokee  Indians.  While 
Rice  and  others,  (pious  young  men  pre- 
paring for  the  ministry,)  were  students  at 
"Williams  College,  and  were  deeply  impressed 
with  a  sense  of  the  perishing  condition  of 
the  heathen  nations,  and  while  they  were 


52  SKETCH   OP   THE   LIFE 

pouring  out  their  prayers  to  God  for  direc- 
tion, Posey  was  in  the  work  of  the  ministry 
in  Buncombe  county,  preaching  at  night, 
and  teaching   school   in   the   day.     "While 
those  young  men  of  Williams'  College  were 
retiring  for  prayer  on  Saturdays,  to  their 
consecrated  spot,  by  the  side  of  a  large  hay- 
stack, in  a  field  on  the  banks  of  the  river 
Hoosac,  in  the  fall  of  1807,  Posey  was  lift- 
ing up  his  voice  like  a  trumpet  among  the 
mountains.     He  was  in  Christ,  and  in  the 
ministry,  before  they  were,  and  before  the 
organization  of  the    "American  Board  of 
Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,"  and 
consequently  before  the  formation  of  the 
General  Convention  of  the  Baptist  denomina- 
tion in  the  United  States  for  foreign  missions. 
Posey  was  licensed  to  preach  in  1803, 
and  ordained  in  1806,  as  has  already  been 
stated.  The  organization  of  the  Baptist  Con- 
vention was  accomplished  mainly  through 
the  instrumentality  of  Luther  Rice,  who, 
in  his  tour  through  the  Southern  States,  in 
1813,  had  formed  some  acquaintance  with 
Elder  Posey,  either  personally  or  from  re- 


OF    ELDER    HUMPHREY    POSEY.  53 

port.     The  Convention,  after  having  made 
some  provision  for  the  support  of  missions 
in  foreign  lands,  was  now  desirous  to  send 
the  gospel  to  the  aborigines  of  our  own  coun- 
try.    In  the  winter  of  1817,  Elder  Luther 
Rice,  (then  agent  of  the  Baptist  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions,  of  the  Triennial  Conven- 
tion,) wrote  to  Elder  Posey,  requesting  in- 
formation in  reference  to  the  practicability 
of  establishing  a  mission  among  the  Chero- 
kee Indians,  residing  mostly  in  the  western 
part  of  North  Carolina,  and  the  northern 
portion  of  the  State  of  Georgia.     Posey's 
heart  was  in  the  work,  and  had  been  for 
some  time  burning  with  anxiety  to  preach 
the  gospel  to  his  neighbors,  the  untutored 
Cherokees.     Having  lived  in  their  vicinity, 
he  was  well  prepared  to   give  the  desired 
information.     He  wrote  to  Elder  Rice,  and 
the   letter  was  laid   before  the  Board  at 
Philadelphia,  and  Dr.  William  Staughton, 
the  Corresponding  Secretary,  was  requested 
to  address  Elder  Posey,  in  order  to  ascer- 
tain whether  his  services  could  be  obtained 
as  their  missionary.    Several  letters  passed 

5* 


54  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

between  them.  The  following  may  be  in- 
teresting to  the  reader,  as  well  as  to  the 
friends  of  both  of  these  excellent  ministers 
of  Jesus  Christ.  Dr.  Staughton  to  Elder 
Posey,  writes  as  follows  : 

"  Philadelphia,  Oct.  16,  1817. 
My  dear  Brother, — 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Baptist  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions,  on  Monday  last,  your 
favor  of  August  the  26th  was  submitted 
and  considered.  The  Board,  anxious  to  see 
"the  light  of  life"  spreading  among  the 
Cherokees,  and  on  the  western  frontiers 
generally,  and  pleased  to  find  your  heart 
set  upon  the  good  work,  enter  with  pleasure 
into  your  feelings  and  views.  They  wish 
you  to  accept  immediately  an  appointment, 
as  their  missionary  for  twelve  months.  The 
more  immediate  sphere  of  action  they  must 
leave  to  your  judgment,  only  remarking  in 
general,  that  the  frontier  of  the  country, 
and  the  Indians,  they  wish  you  more  imme- 
diately to  keep  in  view.  What  you  can  do 
in  relation  to  schools,  &c,  with  the  Divine 


OF   ELDER    HUMPHREY   POSEY.  55 

blessing,  you  must  inform  us.  With  respect 
to  compensation,  the  Board  could  have 
wished  you  had  been  a  little  more  explicit. 
They  submit  to  you  the  sum  of  $500  for 
twelve  months.  This  is  their  idea  at  the 
commencement.  They  wish  to  be  frugal, 
but  they  feel  it  their  duty  to  make  their 
missionaries  comfortable.  You  can  draw 
for  the  above  sum  as  you  may  find  it  con- 
venient. May  the  Lord  be  with  you  and 
bless  you. 

Very  affectionately  your  brother, 

Wm.  Staughtox,  Cor.  Sec." 

The  following  is  Elder  Posey's  answer  to 
the  above,  accepting  the  appointment : 

"Asheville,  JV.  C,  Nov.  24,  1817. 
Rev.  and  dear  Brother, — 

I  wrote  to  you  by  the  last  mail,  but  on 
receiving  yours  of  the  16th  October,  I  felt 
it  my  duty  to  send  you  an  immediate  an- 
swer. I  wish  to  communicate  to  the  Board, 
that  with  gratitude  I  accept  the  appointment 
of  missionary  to   the   Cherokees,  humbly 


56  .   SKETCH   OF  THE   LIFE 

requesting  that  the  Board  will  bear  me  up 
in  their  prayers,  and  beseech  the  blessed 
Jesus  to  ask  for  the  poor  benighted  Chero- 
kees,  as  a  part  of  his  immediate  inherit- 
ance. 

As  it  respects  my  compensation,  suffice 
it  to  say,  I  am  fully  satisfied  with  the  de- 
cision of  the  Board  on  the  subject.  I  shall 
endeavor  to  begin  about  the  1st  of  December, 
shall  keep  a  regular  record  of  my  proceed- 
ings, and  communicate  the  same  quarterly, 
or  oftener. 

The  confidence  placed  in  me  by  the 
Board,  while  it  makes  me  feel  unworthy* 
still  binds  them  to  me  in  a  manner  not 
easily  to  be  expressed,  and  I  hope  never  to 
be  forgotten.  May  Heaven  smile  upon  you, 
my  dear  brother,  and  may  the  happy  pe- 
riod speedily  roll  round,  when  the  earth 
shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord, 
and  his  high  praises  be  sounded  in  every 
place. 

Yours,  in  the  blessed  Jesus, 

H.  Posey." 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  57 

Thus  a  wide  and  effectual  door  is  opened, 
and  the  long-cherished  desire  of  his  heart 
is  granted,  that  he  might  preach  the 

GOSPEL  TO  THE  INDIANS. 

After  receiving  his  appointment,  he  com- 
menced, on  the  1st  of  December,  1817,  a 
tour  of  preaching  among  the  Indians,  and 
the  white  people  on  the  frontier.  In  1818 
and  1819,  he  formed  a  very  extensive  ac- 
quaintance with  the  tribe.  He  visited 
Charles  Hicks,  one  of  the  principal  chiefs, 
and  a  true  friend  to  Indian  reform,  "  and 
I  trust,"  says  Posey,  "  a  real  Christian." 

At  a  grand  council  of  the  chiefs  at  New 
Town,  Oct.  27,  1819,  he  obtained  their 
hearty  consent,  and  promise  of  co-opera- 
tion to  establish  a  school  amongst  them  at 
Valley  Town.  Having  now  determined  on 
a  location  for  a  mission  school,  under  the 
patronage  of  the  Baptists,  it  was  necessary, 
by  stipulations  entered  into  by  the  chiefs, 
that  the  consent  and  aid  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States  should  be  secured. 
Consequently  Posey,  with  that  promptitude 
and  decision  of  character  for  which  he  was 


58  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

so  remarkable,  proceeded  at  an  early  date 
in  1820,  to  Washington  City.  While  there, 
he  formed  an  acquaintance  with  a  number 
of  the  distinguished  men  of  the  nation. 
The  Hon.  J.  C.  Calhoun,  then  Secretary  of 
War,  promised,  in  behalf  of  the  govern- 
ment, to  defray  half  of  the  expense  of  the 
school  buildings  when  finished ;  and  further 
aid  when  the  school  should  be  in  actual  ope- 
ration, allowing  the  Baptist  schools  in  the 
Cherokee  nation  an  equal  share  of  the 
money  appropriated  for  schools  in  that 
tribe. 

It  may  be  proper  to  state  here,  that  this, 
though  the  first  school  established  among 
the  Cherokees  by  the  Baptists,  was  not  the 
first  in  the  Cherokee  nation.  In  1817, 
Posey  commenced  his  missionary  labors  in 
the  nation  ;  and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  the 
American  Board  of  Commissioners  estab- 
lished a  school  at  a  place  they  called 
Brainerd.  This  school  had  secured  an  ap- 
propriation from  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  and  when  Posey  visited 
Washington  City,  as  we  have  seen,  he  ob- 


f 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  59 

tained  from  the  government  the  promise  of 
an  equal  share  with  that  of  other  denomi- 
nations. It  may  also  be  stated,  that  al- 
though the  "  American  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners"  was  organized  four  years  earlier 
than  the  "Baptist  Triennial  Convention," 
yet  they  were  not  a  year  earlier  in  sending 
a  missionary  among  the  Cherokees,  and 
they  were  not  a  year  before  the  Baptists  in 
the  establishment  of  a  school.  Years  be- 
fore this  Elder  Posey  would  have  gone  into 
the  nation,  "  once  and  again,"  but  he 
"  lacked  opportunity."  Now  the  Baptist 
Board  afforded  him  ample  means  to  allow 
him  fully  to  develop  the  desires  of  his 
heart. 

From  Washington  City  he  proceeded  to 
Philadelphia,  where  he  was  cordially  re- 
ceived by  the  churches.  These  were  the 
days  of  Staughton,  McLaughlin,  Jones,  and 
others  of  contemporary  and  congenial  spi- 
rits. On  his  way  thither,  he  preached  in 
many  of  the  churches,  and  formed  valuable 
acquaintance  with  many  of  the  most  emi- 
nent ministers  in  the  denomination.    In  his 


CO  SKETCH   OP   THE   LIFE 

Journal  of  travel,  he  mentions  the  names 
of  many  ministers  with  whom  he  had  plea- 
sant and  profitable  interviews.  At  Middle- 
borough,  in  Virginia,  he  became  acquainted 
with  Rev.  J.  L.  Dagg,  now  President  of 
Mercer  University,  Georgia.  While  at  Wash- 
ington City,  he  was  cordially  entertained 
by  the  friends  of  the  Redeemer,  and  records 
in  his  Journal,  as  a  matter  of  thanksgiving 
to  God,  the  general  success  which  seemed 
to  attend  the  object  of  his  agency.  Though 
brought  up  among  the  mountains,  and  of 
course  not  accustomed  to  city  etiquette 
— city  ways — he  possessed  the  happy  fa- 
culty of  being  easy  in  his  intercourse  with 
his  brethren  under  almost  any  circum- 
stances. 

The  writer  of  these  pages  remembers  a 
very  pleasing  incident  which  Mr.  Posey 
told  him  occurred  during  one  of  his  visits 
to  Philadelphia,  when  he  was  preaching  in 
the  church  of  the  late  Elder  James  Mc 
Laughlin.  It  is  not  an  unusual  thing,  in 
many  of  the  churches  in  our  back-woods, 
for  the  preacher  to  close  a  meeting  by  sing- 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  61 

ing,  and  going  round  through  the  congre- 
gation, the  mean  while,  shaking  hands  with 
the  brethren  and  people  generally.  To 
this  custom  Elder  Posey  had  often  been  a 
witness  in  the  regions  in  which  he  had  la- 
bored as  a  minister,  and  he  was  himself  not 
unfriendly  to  it,  but  would  often  engage  in 
it.  Feeling  that  the  usages  of  the  good 
people  in  and  about  Philadelphia,  were  not 
like  those  of  the  people  in  the  country 
where  he  had  been  accustomed  to  preach, 
he  remarked  to  brother  McLaughlin,  that  if 
he  should  become  a  little  excited,  and  should 
do  such  a  thing  among  his  people,  he  hoped 
he  would  not  take  any  offence  at  it.  Elder 
McLaughlin  told  him  to  use  his  liberty 
among  his  people,  assuring  him  he  should 
not  be  offended  at  it,  and  he  did  not  think 
his  people  would.  Posey,  it  seems,  had 
preached  several  times  to  this  people,  and 
had  become  much  attached  to  them.  He 
began  to  feel  at  home.  When  preaching  to 
them  on  one  occasion,  he  became  unusually 
warm  while  speaking  of  the  love  of  Jesus  to 
lost  sinners,  and  while  urging  upon  Christ- 

6 


62  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

ians  the  duty  of  making  efforts  to  have  the 
gospel  preached  to  every  creature.  In  the 
warmth  of  his  heart,  he  exclaimed  in  the 
language  of  Jehu  to  Jehonadab,  "  Is  thine 
heart  right,  as  my  heart  is  with  thy  heart  ? 
If  it  be,  give  me  thy  hand."  And  in 
uttering  these  words,  he  immediately  gave 
brother  McLaughlin  his  hand,  started  from 
the  pulpit,  and  went  through  the  congrega- 
tion, giving  them  his  hand,  and  speaking  all 
the  while,  of  the  love  of  the  adorable  Sa- 
viour. He  stated,  that  his  precious  brother 
McLaughlin,  for  that  was  an  epithet  he 
frequently  used,  in  speaking  of  brethren 
whom  he  very  specially  loved,  seemed  not 
offended,  but  rather  delighted  with  the  ap- 
parent heart-felt  piety  and  godly  simplicity 
which  prevailed  in  the  church  and  congre- 
gation. 

From  Philadelphia  he  came  home,  as  he 
went,  not  in  coaches  or  stages,  but  on  horse- 
back, preaching.  His  Journal  is  filled  with 
appointments  and  notes  in  reference  to  his 
success,  all  going  to  show  him  as  a  laborious, 
business-doing  man. 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  G3 

In  1821,  he  again  visited  Philadelphia, 
to  consult  with  the  Board,  and  to  procure 
supplies  for  the  Valley  Town  school.  He 
preached  in  nearly  all  the  churches  in  the 
city,  and  obtained  the  promise  of  the  Board 
to  furnish  a  mission  family  to  unite  with 
him  in  the  labors  of  the  school.  He  con- 
tinued his  valuable  and  highly  acceptable 
services  until  the  year  1824.  The  promised 
assistance  arrived  in  1821,  consisting  of 
Rev.  Thomas  Roberts  and  his  wife,  Rev. 
Evan  Jones  and  his  wife,  Isaac  Cleaver,  a 
blacksmith,  and  John  Farrier,  a  farmer. 
These,  with  their  families,  together  with 
Miss  Jones,  Miss  Cleaver,  and  Miss  Lewis, 
sailed  from  Philadelphia,  in  1821,  laden 
with  clothing  for  their  schools,  and  other 
things  necessary  for  a  large  missionary 
establishment.  Elder  Roberts  and  Mr. 
Farrier  discontinued  their  labors  in  1824, 
and  Mr.  Cleaver  continued  until  the  close 
of  the  next  year.  Elder  Evan  Jones  con- 
tinued until  the  Indians  removed  to  the 
Territory,  assigned  to  them  by  the  govern- 
ment, beyond  the  Mississippi. 


64  SKETCH   OF   THE  LIFE 

Purity  and  innocence  furnish  no  security 
against  the  tongue  of  the  calumniator.  As 
might  be  expected,  the  "  wickedness  of  the 
wicked"  sought  to  blacken  the  reputation 
of  this  indefatigable  missionary.  Satan's 
kingdom,  through  the  omnipotence  of  the 
Divine  truths  which  he  proclaimed,  was  re- 
ceiving a  death-blow  in  that  quarter.  The 
success  which  attended  his  labors  amongst 
the  Cherokees,  and  the  white  population  on 
the  frontiers,  was  such  as  to  wake  up  the 
morbid  energies  of  worldly-minded,  whiskey- 
loving  professors,  and  to  excite  the  bitter 
gall  of  the  haters  of  gospel  light.  Hence, 
the  hue  and  cry  against  the  mission  school, 
and  against  the  waste  of  money  and  means, 
was  heard  at  Valley  Town.  The  whole 
was  declared  to  be  a  matter  of  speculation, 
and  a  money-making  business  to  those  en- 
trusted with  its  management.  Some  good 
men,  it  is  feared,  had  a  hand  in  this  foul 
work.  That  there  would  be  much  expense 
incurred  in  the  erection  of  the  necessary 
buildings,  it  is  easy  to  conceive.  The  place 
was  remote  from  the  white  population,  and 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  G5 

far  distant  from  any  market.  Ill-disposed 
persons,  and  there  are  always  too  many 
such,  who  know  not  the  value  of  such  work, 
are  ever  ready  to  clamor.  To  put  to  si- 
lence all  such,  the  French  Broad  Associa- 
tion, at  the  request  of  Elder  Posey,  ap- 
pointed a  committee,  consisting  of  Elder 
Jeremiah  Taylor,  William  Kimsey,  Garrett 
Dewees,  and  Adam  Cam,  to  visit  the  mis- 
sionary establishment,  and  report  at  the 
next  session.  Only  Dewees  and  Carn  met. 
They  report : — 

"  That  tliey  had  done  as  they  were  re- 
quested, and  found  the  school  in  a  very 
flourishing  condition,  fully  up  to  their 
highest  expectations.  That  notwithstanding 
there  have  been  large  sums  of  money  ex- 
pended for  the  establishment,  yet  not  unne- 
cessarily ;  and  that  they,  therefore,  do 
heartily  recommend  its  promotion." 

The  venerable  Deacon,  James  Whitaker, 
in  a  letter,  says,  "I  was  at  Valley  Town 
in  1821,  six  or  eight  weeks,  and  during 
that  time,  I  had  full  opportunity  to  know 
every  thing  in  and  about  the  establishment ; 

6* 


66  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

and,  I  can  say,  a  more  attentive  and  faith- 
ful man  could  not  be  found,  and  the  Chero- 
kees  universally  esteem  him  as  a  good 
man.  At  the  mention  of  his  name,  those 
who  still  remain  in  the  country,*  "will 
brighten  up  with  a  smile  on  their  counte- 
nance." 

In  1836,  this  school  is  reported  in  I.  M. 
Allen's  Register,  as  being  in  a  nourishing 
condition,  "  And  to  this  day  the  Cherokees 
have  more  confidence  in  Humphrey  Posey 
than  they  have  in  any  other  man  living." — 
Page  166. 

In  reference  to  this  missionary  station, 
Rev.  Mr.  Jones  states,  that  it  contained  in 
1833,  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  mem- 
bers; and  at  another  church,  formed  seventy- 
five  miles  west  of  Valley  Town,  there  were 
seventy-three  members,  gathered  princi- 
pally by  the  labors  of  Jesse  Bushyhead,  a 
Cherokee  convert. 

*  A  few  Indians  did  remain  after  the  body  of  the 
nation  had  gone  to  the  Indian  Territory. 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  67 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Character  of  Elder  Posey  as  a  Christian. — A  preacher. 
— A  pastor. — A  yoke-fellow  in  the  ministry. — Let- 
ter from  Elder  A.  Webb. — Interesting  anecdote. — 
Dr.  Howell's  letter. — Respect  of  the  Indians  for 
him. 

The  developments  of  vital  godliness  in 
the  lives  of  many  of  those  who  profess  re- 
ligion, are  not  always  such  as  to  leave  if 
unquestionable  that  they  are  the  children 
of  grace.  God  requires,  and  the  world  ex- 
pects, that  His  people  should  make  full 
proof  of  their  claims  to  discipleship.  He 
who  has  the  profession  without  the  princi- 
ple, or  the  place  without  the  piety,  of  a 
true  Christian,  is  as  the  "sounding  brass," 
or  the  "tinkling  cymbal."  He  may  boast 
of  his  faith,  his  zeal,  his  knowledge,  his 
unbounded  benevolence,  but  he  is  nothing, 
— God  has  said  it. 

The  individual  who  claims  to  be  a  son  of 
God,  on  the  ground  that  he  remembers  the 


6$  SKETCH   OF   THE  LIFE 

time,  the  place,  and  the  circumstances  of 
his  conversion,  while  he  exhibits  none  of 
that  meek,  lowly,  and  forgiving  temper 
which  characterized  the  meek  and  lowly 
Saviour,  is  deceived;  "that  mans  religion 
is  vain."  Elder  Posey  has  given  us,  it  is 
true,  in  his  own  words,  an  account  of  the 
time,  the  place,  and  the  circumstances  of 
his  conversion;  but  his  spirit,  his  conversa- 
tion was  "  as  becometh  the  gospel  of  Christ," 
and  afforded  the  highest  evidence  of  his 
having  "passed  from  death  unto  life." 
Heart-felt  piety,  not  that  talkative  kind  of 
religion,  which  is  found  in  words  and  not 
in  deeds,  marked  the  whole  course  of  his 
life.  He  was  "a  lover  of  good  men,"  and 
all  good  men  who  knew  him  loved  him  in 
return. 

As  a  Minister  of  the  Gospel,  he  was 
laborious  in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of 
his  high  calling,  and  prompt  in  attending 
his  appointments  to  preach.  His  sermons 
were  sensible  and  interesting  expositions  of 
the  Sacred  Scriptures.  Doctrinally  and 
practically,  he  was  what  may  be  termed  a 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY. 


69 


sound-headed,  warm-hearted  preacher.    His 
sermons  were  not  a  boisterous  vociferation 
of  Bible  truth,  disconnected  and  inappro- 
priate ;  but  they  were  generally  plain,  calm, 
thoughtful,  and  well  adapted  to  the  spiritual 
wants  of   his  audience.      He  studied  the 
Bible  well,  and  preached  well  what  it  taught. 
His  library  was  well  selected,  for  a  mere 
English  scholar.      He  had  Gill's  Exposi- 
tion of  the  Bible,  Gill's  Body  of  Divinity, 
abridged  by  Dr.  Staughton,  Fuller's  Works, 
Newton's  Works,  and  several  commentaries, 
besides  miscellaneous  works,  of  great  value 
to  the  Bible  student.     He  read  them  and 
profited  by  them.     He  was  not  in  the  habit 
of  attempting  to  show  off  as  a  man  of  read- 
in  *  ;  nor  did  he  feel  inclined  to  indulge  in 
strained,  far-fetched  and  absurd  theories — 
he  was  not  "a  novice." 

As  A  Pastor,  few  men  ever  succeeded 
better  in  securing  the  kind  attention  and 
hearty  co-operation  of  their  people,  than  did 
Elder  Posey.  To  this  circumstance,  no 
doubt,  in  a  very  great  degree,  is  owing  very 
much  of  the  success  which  attended  his  la- 


70  SKETCH    OF   THE    LIFE 

bors  in  his  Churches;  for  no  Preacher  or 
Pastor,  can  do  much  in  building  up  a  Church, 
and  carrying  forward  the  interests  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ  on  earth,  without 
the  aid  of  those  with  whom  he  is  connected 
in  this  great  work.  The  blessed  Son  of  God 
prayed  that  all  who  should  believe  on  him 
through  the  word  of  his  Apostles  might  "be 

ONE,  THAT  THE  WORLD  MIGHT  BELIEVE"  that 

he  was  the  promised  Saviour.  What  a  mis- 
chievous thing  among  the  people  of  God,  is 
division  and  contention  !  Hence  the  Apostle 
Paul,  earnestly  and  repeatedly  rebuked  those 
in  his  day  who  were  sowing  contention  among 
Brethren.  He  says  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Ro- 
mans, "We  being  many  are  one  body  in 
Christ,  and  every  one  members  one  of  ano- 
ther." Rom.  xii.  6.  In  his  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians,  "that  there  should  be  no 
schism  in  the  body,  but  that  the  members 
should  have  the  same  care  one  for  another." 
1  Cor.  xii.  25.  Who  can  contemplate  the 
beauty  and  the  importance  of  that  passage 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians  without  being 
at   once    convinced   that   divisions    among 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  71 

Christians  are  a  sore  evil.  "  Let  the  peace 
of  God  rule  in  your  hearts,  to  the  which  ye 
are  also  called  in  one  body."  Col.  iii.  15. 
0,  how  tender !  how  deep  the  solicitude  of  the 
Apostle  in  reference  to  this  subject !  Hear 
him  again,  in  the  overflowing  of  a  soul  full 
of  that  fervor  of  spirit  which  became  the 
highly  exalted  position  which  he  occupied. 
Noio  I  beseech  you,  brethren,  by  the  name  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  ye  all  speak  the 
same  thing,  and  that  there  be  no  divisions 
among,  you,  but  that  ye  be  perfectly  joined 
together  in  the  same  mind  and  in  the  same 
judgment.     1  Cor.  i.  10. 

Possessing,  in  a  large  degree,  that  love 
for  the  peace  and  the  prosperity  of  the 
spiritual  Jerusalem,  which  always  charac- 
terizes the  "good  minister  of  Jesus  Christ," 
and  having  much  of  that  wisdom  which  is 
profitable  to  direct  in  the  use  of  the  means 
to  be  employed  for  the  accomplishment  of 
this  object,  so  dear  to  his  heart,  Elder  Posey 
was  rarely  found  on  the  wrong  side  in  cases 
of  difficulty.  He  was  a  good  judge  of  hu- 
man character,  and  rarely  failed  to  place  a 


72  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

correct  estimate  on  the  words  or  the  works 
of  men.  High-minded,  open-hearted,  can- 
did and  firm  in  his  bearing,  he  held  out  few 
inducements  to  the  under-handed,  designing 
sycophant  to  lean  upon  him  in  order  to  give 
importance  to  himself,  or  to  accomplish  some 
selfish  end  on  his  own  behalf.  The  deter- 
mination of  the  Psalmist,  David,  when  he 
entered  on  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of 
King  in  Israel,  is  that  which  regulated  the 
conduct  of  Elder  Posey  in  the  exercise  of 
the  duties  of  a  Pastor.  "I  will  set  no 
wicked  thing  before  mine  eyes ;  I  hate  the 
work  of  them  that  turn  aside ;  it  shall  not 
cleave  to  me.  A  froward  heart  shall  depart 
from  me ;  I  will  not  know  a  wicked  person. 
Whoso  privily  slandereth  his  neighbor,  him 
will  I  cut  off;  him  that  hath  a  high  look  and 
a  proud  heart  will  not  I  suffer.  Mine  eyes 
shall  be  upon  the  faithful  of  the  land,  that 
they  may  dwell  with  me ;  he  that  walketh 
in  a  perfect  way,  he  shall  serve  me.  He 
that  worketh  deceit,  shall  not  dwell  within 
my  house ;  he  that  telleth  lies  shall  not  tarry 
in  my  sight.     I  will  early  destroy  all  the 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  73 

wicked  of  the  land,  that  I  may  cut  off  all 
wicked  doers  from  the  city  of  the  Lord*" 

Ps.  ci. 

To  instruct  the  people  of  his  charge,  and 
to  elevate  the  standard  of  personal  piety 
amongst  them,  was  a  leading  feature  in  his 
ministrations.    Hence  all  circus-going,  back- 
gammon playing,  and  the  like,  were  sure  to 
meet  an  appropriate  reproof,  when  any  of 
his  brethren  should  be  found  guilty  of  such 
inconsistencies.     Pope,  in  one  of  his  letters, 
asserts  that  "  To  attack  vices  in  the  abstract, 
without  touching  persons,  may  be  safe  fight- 
ing indeed,  but  it  is  fighting  with  shadows." 
Elder  Posey  was  pretty  much  of  the  same 
opinion,  and  consequently  he  did  not  conduct 
his  spiritual  warfare  in  that  way.     Paul, 
a  greater  than  Pope,  did  not  fail  to  specify, 
"Be  not  deceived;  neither  fornicators,  nor 
idolaters,  nor  adulterers,  nor  effeminate,  nor 
abusers   of  themselves  with  mankind,  nor 
thieves,   nor  covetous,  nor  drunkards,  nor 
revilers,  nor  extortioners,  shall  inherit  the 
Kingdom  of  God.     And  such  were  some  of 
you" — you  Corinthians.   1  Cor.  vi.  9-11. 

7 


74  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

Elder  Posey  viewed  the  frequent  changes 
in  the  pastoral  relation  with  the  churches 
as  injurious  in  their  general  tendency,  and 
was  decidedly  opposed  to  the  custom,  in 
many  of  the  churches,  of  calling  a  Preacher 
annually.  The  connection  existing  between 
the  Pastor  and  his  flock,  he  considered  as 
one  of  very  peculiar  character,  and  the 
feelings  between  him  and  them  should  al- 
ways be  of  the  kindest  and  most  endearing 
character,  and  should  not  be  broken  off  for 
trivial  causes.  He  always  sought  to  heal 
the  little  heart-burnings  which  might  arise, 
either  among  the  members  of  the  churches 
of  his  oivn  charge,  or  those  which  might 
spring  up  among  the  members  of  other 
churches  towards  their  Pastor.  He  ab- 
horred in  a  minister  of  Jesus  Christ  that 
unholy  kind  of  feeling  which  sought  to  un- 
dermine or  supplant  a  brother  in  the  pastoral 
charge.  He,  therefore,  had  no  ear  to  listen 
to  complaints  against  the  preacher  in  charge, 
nor  would  he  seize  upon  these  things,  as 
affording  himself  an  opportunity  to  work  his 
way  into  a  more  desirable  Pastorate. 


OF    ELDER    HUMPHREY   POSEY.  7o 

As  A  true  yoke-fellow,  his  bearing  to- 
wards bis  fellow-laborers  in  the  work  of  the 
ministry,  was  dignified  and  Christian  like. 
Courtesy  he  esteemed  as  a  virtue  among  his 
brethren,  which  should  always  be  observed 
in  order  to  preserve  the  unity  of  the  Spirit 
in  the  bonds  of  peace.  He  ever  sought  to 
build  up,  and  never  to  pull  down,  the  repu- 
tation of  those  who  minister  in  holy  things, 
knowing  full  well  that  whatever  would  seri- 
ously affect  a  minister's  influence  among  his 
brethren,  would  injure  his  usefulness  among 
others,  and  would  be  like  loosening  the  strong 
pillars  under  an  important  edifice.  He  knew 
the  import  of  that  expression  of  the  Apostle, 
"For  now  we  live,  if  ye  stand  fast  in  the 
Lord." 

Elder  Alfred  Webb,  favorably  known  as 
a  good  minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  upper 
part  of  Georgia,  and  whose  acquaintance 
with  Elder  Posey  wasdong  and  intimate,  has 
furnished  in  a  letter,  quite  an  interesting 
sketch  of  his  life,  from  which  only  a  few  ex- 
tracts can  here  be  made.     He  writes: — 

"  My  first  acquaintance  with  Elder  Hum- 


76  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

phrey  Posey  was  in  1809  or  1810,  when  I 
was  nine  or  ten  years  old,  at  my  father's 
in  Rutherford  county,  North  Carolina.  He 
was  then  living  in  Buncombe  county,  and 
attended  several  churches  in  adjacent  parts. 
God  blessed  his  labors  in  the  above  counties 
to  the  conversion  of  many  sinners.  He  was 
engaged  in  school  teaching,  and  many  of  his 
scholars,  and  numbers  of  citizens,  will  no 
doubt  rejoice  through  eternity  that  Hum- 
phrey Posey  ever  visited  Rutherford  county. 
Some  time  after,  he  removed  to  Haywood 
county,  where  he  was  exceedingly  useful  in 
the  hand  of  the  Lord,  in  building  up  the 
churches  in  that  part  of  the  world. 

"  He  left  Haywood  to  take  charge  of  a 
mission  in  the  Cherokee  nation,  where  he 
originated  and  attended  the  management  of 
a  very  nourishing  school,  and  preached  over 
the  nation  by  means  of  an  interpreter,  for 
the  space  of  about  five  years.  Eternity  will 
unfold  the  good  which  this  faithful  servant 
of  the  Most  High  God  effected  in  the  moral 
condition  of  these  rude  people. 

"  No  man  probably  ever  possessed  a  more 


OF    ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  li 

unsullied  character,  both  as  a  citizen  and  a 
Minister  of  the  Gospel ;  and  though  Mr. 
Posey  did  not  possess  a  classical  education, 
yet  by  his  energetic  and  devoted  efforts,  he 
rendered  himself  famous  in  the  Church  of 
Christ.  In  sentiment  he  was  a  Calvinist, 
and  possessed,  in  a  high  degree,  a  talent  to 
explain  the  doctrine  of  election  and  predesti- 
nation in  a  practical  manner,  so  that  the 
Free-will  Baptists  and  the  Arminians  gener- 
ally received  him  with  love  and  admiration." 

An  anecdote  furnished  in  the  letter  from 
which  the  above  extract  is  made,  may  be 
properly  introduced  at  this  place.  It  shows 
the  wit  and  the  power  which  Elder  Posey 
possessed  in  wielding  the  sword  of  the  Spirit, 
the  word  of  the  Lord.     The  writer  says  : — 

"  Mr.  Posey  and  myself  being  at  Tucka- 
siege  Association  on  the  20th  of  August, 
1832,  left  to  go  to  the  French  Broad  Asso- 
ciation, which  was  to  convene  on  Saturday 
the  25th ;  and  having  appointment  to  preach 
on  the  route,  on  Friday  I  preached  for  him 
at  Cany  Creek,  in  Yancy  county,  he  being 

sick.     After  the  meeting  we  called  at  a  gen- 

7* 


78  SKETCH   OP   THE   LIFE 

tleroan's  house  to  dine,  in  company  -with 
Elder  Stephen  Morgan.  The  gentleman's 
brother  and  wife  called  also,  both  being  Free- 
will Baptists.  After  some  conversation,  he 
remarked  to  Brother  Posey,  '  My  wife  and 
myself  feel  very  much  disappointed  in  not 
hearing  you  preach  to-day,  after  coming 
twelve  miles  for  that  purpose.'  Mr.  Posey 
remarked  that  they  had  heard  the  Gospel 
preached.  But  he  still  persisted  that  he  was 
disappointed,  inasmuch  as  he  was  the  preach- 
er he  had  come  to  hear.  '  Well,  said  Posey, 
you  believe  what  the  brother  preached  to- 
day.' He  answered  he  did.  'Well,'  re- 
plied Posey,  'I  could  not  have  preached 
any  thing  else,  to  have  kept  within  the  covers 
of  the  Bible.'  But  the  Free-wilier  appeared 
to  be  dissatisfied  still.  Elder  Posey  assumed 
a  grave  appearance,  and  said  to  him,  '  Sup- 
pose I  had  occupied  the  pulpit  to-day  and 
said,  '  Moreover,  whom  he  did  predestinate, 
them  he  also  called ;  and  whom  he  called, 
them  he  also  justified;  and  whom  he  justified, 
them  he  also  glorified;  would  you  have 
believed     me  V     The    Free-wilier   replied 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  79 

promptly,  '  No,  I  would  not.'  '  No !  said  Po- 
sey; but  thank  God  it  is  his  precious  word, 
and  the  gates  of  hell  cannot  prevail  against 
it.'  The  Free-wilier  blushed  in  confusion." 
This  objector  to  the  doctrine  of  election 
and  predestination,  it  is  feared,  is  a  fair 
sample  of  hundreds  and  thousands.  He 
was  so  unacquainted  with  his  Bible,  that  he 
did  not  know  what  God  had  said  by  his  holy 
apostle  on  this  subject.  Many  are  so  igno- 
rant of  the  language  of  the  scriptures,  that 
they  do  not  know  when  the  minister  quotes 
from  the  sacred  page ;  hence  they  object  to 
these  sublime  and  glorious  doctrines,  not 
knowing  what  they  do.  "  They  do  err,  not 
knowing  the  scriptures."  Numbers,  just 
like  the  above  objector,  will  not  believe 
what  the  preacher  says,  though,  like  Posey, 
he  should  exhibit  the  doctrine  in  the  lan- 
guage of  holy  writ.  Frequently,  too,  those 
professors  of  the  religion  of  Christ,  who 
know  the  least  of  the  holy  oracles,  are 
the  most  confident,  dogmatic,  and  obstinate 
in  the  defence  of  their  peculiar  notions  on 
the  subject  of  religion.     It  was  unsafe  for 


80  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

the  cause  of  such  to  come  in  contact  with 
Humphrey  Posey. 

A  short  letter  from  Dr.  Howell  will  show, 
to  some  considerable  extent,  the  place  Elder 
Posey  occupied  in  the  estimation  of  our 
learned  and  talented  ministers,  at  an  early 
clay,  and  also  the  place  assigned  him  in  his 
old  age.  The  letter  is  here  inserted  entire, 
because  of  its  brevity  and  appropriateness. 

"  Nashville,  Feb.  12,  1849. 
Dear  Brother  Fleming, — 

I  am  not  able  jo  give  you  the  informa- 
tion you  desire,  regarding  our  lamented 
brother  Posey.  When  a  boy,  at  my  father's 
plantations,  on  the  Neuse,  I  felt  interested 
in  the  accounts  that  reached  me,  of  his 
preaching  in  the  upper  part  of  the  State. 
North  Carolina  has,  very  naturally,  as  my 
native  place,  always  been  dear  to  me.  Upon 
its  leading  ministers,  Mr.  Posey  amongst 
them,  I  always  kept  my  eye,  and  with,  if 
possible,  a  warmer  interest  after  I  left  the 
State  to  reside,  first  in  Virginia,  and  sub- 
sequently in  Tennessee,  than  before.     Nor 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  81 

did  I  cease  to  mark  his  course  when  he  re- 
moved farther  South.  Rev.  J.  Wiseman, 
of  this  State,  a  man  of  eminent  talents  and 
usefulness,  has  often  spoken  to  me  of  Mr. 
Posey  as  the  pastor  of  his  youth,  and  the 
minister  by  whom  he  was  baptized.  My 
information  is  of  too  general  and  limited  a 
character  to  be  of  special  service  to  you  in 
your  proposed  Memoir.  I  saw  our  venera- 
ble brother  once  only,  at  Murfreesborough, 
in  this  State,  some  five  years  ago,  when  we 
were  together  for  two  days.  I  ever  regarded 
him  as  a  good  minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  de- 
voted in  his  piety,  and  useful  in  his  labors. 
Yours,  truly, 

R.  B.  C.  Howell." 

The  expression,  "  devoted  in  his  piety," 
in  the  preceding  letter,  is  used  with  great 
appropriateness.  He  made  the  work  of  the 
ministry  the  business  of  his  life,  and  was 
often  heard  to  say  that  he  viewed  the  office 
he  held  higher  than  the  office  of  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  and  that  he  con- 
sidered it  a  hind  of  coming  down  in  the 


82  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

station  of  the  preacher  "who  might  think 
himself  going  up  in  accepting  any  civil 
office  within  the  gift  of  man.  He  magnified 
his  office  in  word  and  in  deed,  and  always 
endeavored  to  elevate  the  standing  and  pro- 
mote the  usefulness  of  his  "  fellow-helpers 
to  the  truth."  Cheerfulness,  and  activity 
of  mind  and  body  were  strikingly  devel- 
oped elements  in  his  character.  Open- 
hearted,  free,  and  undissembling  in  his 
intercourse  with  others,  he  made  to  himself 
friends,  permanent  friends,  wherever  he 
went.  It  is  a  universal  law  of  our  nature 
to  hate  hypocrisy  in  others,  though  we 
should  be  guilty  of  it  ourselves.  He  was 
not  double-tongued,  nor  double-faced  among 
his  brethren  in  the  gospel  ministry,  conse- 
quently he  always  had  their  confidence  and 
hearty  co-operation  in  carrying  out  the  de- 
signs of  benevolence  in  which  he  was  so 
frequently  employed.  He  never  sought  to 
promote  a  good  cause  by  the  use  of  unholy 
means  ;  nor  to  correct  one  evil  by  the  in- 
troduction of  another.  He  loved  the  truth  ; 
loved  "speaking  the  truth  in  love."  Proba- 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  S3 

bly  few  men  ever  excelled  hini  in  despising 
"the  sleight  of  men  and  cunning  crafti- 
ness,  whereby  they  lie  in  wait  to  deceive." 
The  Indians  loved  him  more  than  any 
other  white  man  who  ever  preached  among 
them.  In  proof  of  this,  let  another  extract 
from  the  letter  of  Elder  Webb  be  intro- 
duced.    He  writes — 

"  In  1832,  at  the   Tuckasiege  Associa- 

i  tion,  on  Lord's-day,  a  considerable  number 
of  Cherokees  were  present,  and  although 
the  preaching  seemed  to  have  a  good  effect 
among  the  white  people,  the  Indians   sat 

J  unmoved,  but  kept  good  order.  Some  of 
the  young  men  among  them  had  gone  un- 

*  der  the  stand,  and  were  sitting  there  quietly, 
until  brother  Posey  arose  to  close  the  ser- 
vices of  the  day.  As  soon  as  they  heard 
Ms  voice,  most  of  them  arose  from  their 
seats  and  moved  forward.  The  young  men 
came  out  from  under  the  stand,  and  all  of 
them  looked  on  with  great  earnestness. 
Their  countenances  indicated  that  they  were 
excited.  They  appeared  like  children  re- 
ceiving the  most  solemn  instructions  from  a 


v 


84  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

devoted  father.  I  have  seen,  [says  brother 
Webb,]  and  conversed  with  the  seals  of  his 
ministry  among  the  Cherokees." 

To  their  present  homes,  in  Arkansas, 
many  of  them  have  carried  on  their  tongues 
the  name  of  Posey,  and  many  have  carried 
in  their  hearts,  through  his  instrumentality, 
"  the  everlasting  consolations  of  a  good 
hope  through  grace."  There  is  a  goodly 
number  of  Baptists  among  the  Cherokees. 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY  POSEY.  85 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  organization  of  the  Georgia  Baptist  Convention.— 
Presence  of  Elder  Posey.— His  labors  in  Georgia. 
—Agency  for  Cave  Spring  School,  in  Floyd  County. 
—Death  of  Mrs.  Posey.— His  marriage  to  Mrs.  Jane 
Stokes,  and  settlement  in  Newnan. — His  death. 

Humphrey  Posey  was  a  laboring  man. 
His  eye,  his  movement,  all  indicated  he  had 
something  to  do ;  and  that  he  felt  his  was 
an  important  work.  In  June,  1822,  while 
on  an  agency  for  Valley  Town  school,  he 
visited  Georgia;  and  in  company  with 
Dr.  W.  T.  Brantly,  of  Augusta,  and  Elder 
Joshua  Key,  of  Burke  County,  he  visited 
Powelton,  and  was  present  at  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Georgia  Baptist  Convention. 
The  reception  he  met  with  from  the  vener- 
able ministers  present  on  that  occasion,  may 
be  considered  as  a  good  index  to  the  high 
sense  they  entertained  of  his  worth,  and 

8 


86  SKETCH   OF   THE  LIFE 

produced  in  his  bosom  a  strong  attachment 
to  the  Baptists  of  Georgia. 

We  have  said  he  was  a  laboring  man. 
His  travels  in  Georgia,  the  Carolinas,  Ten- 
nessee, Kentucky,  and  Missouri,  as  well  as 
his  journeys  to  Philadelphia,  are  sufficient 
evidence  of  it. 

After  leaving  Valley  Town,  in  1824,  he 
removed  to  the  old  upper  counties  of 
Georgia,  where  he  resided  for  a  year  or 
two  ;  and  then  settled  in  what  is  termed  the 
Cherokee  country,  on  a  very  fertile  spot 
which  he  designed  to  make  his  permanent 
residence  for  life.  While  in  this  new  sec- 
tion of  the  State,  he  traveled  much,  and 
preached  every  where  he  went  "  the  glorious 
gospel  of  the  blessed  God."  Being  the  de- 
cided friend  of  education,  he  accepted,  by 
the  solicitation  of  the  brethren,  an  agency 
to  procure  funds  to  extricate  Hearn  Manual 
Labor  School  from  its  then  embarrassed 
condition.  It  is  now  relieved  and  is  pros- 
perous ;  and  the  place  has  since  become 
celebrated  as  the  location  of  the  Georgia 


OF    ELDER    HUMPHREY    POSEY.  87 

Institution  for  the  Education  of  the  Deaf 
and  Dumb. 

The  extensive  acquaintance  the  subject 
of  this  memoir  had  formed  with  the  Bap- 
tists of  the  United  States,  and  with  their 
great  benevolent  enterprises,  fitted  him  for 
any  agency  in  almost  any  department  of 
labor  by  which  important  objects  are  to  be 
secured.  His  plans  were  not  visionary, 
and  the  means  for  their  accomplishment 
were  well  understood  by  him.  From  the 
time  he  became  a  citizen  of  Georgia,  he  be- 
came a  regular  attendant  at  the  annual 
meetings  of  the  Georgia  Baptist  Conven- 
tion; and  such  was  the  respect  they  had 
for  his  opinions,  that  he  was  uniformly  re- 
quested to  act  on  committees  of  more  than 
ordinary  interest  to  the  body.  "He  was 
known  in  the  gates  when  he  sat  among  the 
elders  of  the  land." 

In  the  providence  of  God,  he  was  per- 
mitted to  enjoy  the  society  of  the  wife  of 
his  youth  forty-two  years.  She  died  at 
their   residence   in   Walker   County,  June 


88  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

22d,  1842.  By  her  he  had  ten  children; 
eight  daughters  and  two  sons,  all  of  whom 
have  given  evidence  of  conversion  to  God. 
He  was  often  heard  to  speak  of  this  as  a 
matter  of  consolation  to  him  in  his  declining 
years.  He  dedicated  his  children  to  God 
in  prayer,  daily  prayer,  which  is  the  only 
method  of  dedication  about  which  the  Holy 
Scriptures  furnish  any  instruction.  God 
owned,  he  hoped,  his  own  method  and  means 
of  grace,  and  "sealed  with  the  Holy  Spirit 
of  promise  "  all  his  children. 

On  the  28th  day  of  July,  1844,  he  became 
united  in  marriage  to  Mrs.  Jane  Stokes, 
relict  of  Deacon  Wm.  M.  Stokes,  of  New- 
nan,  Georgia.  He  disposed  of  nearly  all 
his  property  in  Walker  county,  among  his 
children,  and  came  to  Newnan  to  reside 
permanently.  Several  churches  in  the  vi- 
cinity called  him  to  preach  to  them  as  a 
pastoral  supply,  and  he  devoted  his  time  to 
their  service  faithfully,  and  with  much  suc- 
cess, up  to  the  close  of  his  life.  He  was 
identified  with  the  Baptists  in  all  their  be- 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  89 

ncvolent  institutions.  But  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  benighted  Indians  lay  nearest 
his  heart,  and  to  the  day  of  his  death  he 
■was  a  regular  contributor  to  the  funds  of 
the  Indian  Mission  Association.  Since  his 
decease,  his  venerable  widow  has  been  a 
liberal  contributor. 

Having  been  appointed  at  a  previous  ses- 
sion to  preach  the  missionary  sermon  before 
the  Western  Association,  at  its  meeting  in 
September,  1846,  he  came  forward  on  the 
Lord's  day,  and  with  much  acceptance,  per- 
formed the  service.     During  his  discourse 
he  remarked,  he  would  join  any  society  cal- 
culated to  do  good  to  his  fellow-men.     "  I 
would  join,"  said  he,  "  a  wolf-killing  society, 
if  I  lived  in  a  country  where  wolves  were 
an  annoyance."     Many  Baptists,  Method- 
ists, and  others,  will  long  remember  that 
last  effort  of  his  on  the  subject  of  missions. 
His  soul  was  in  the  work,  he  had  extraordi- 
nary liberty,  and  probably  exerted  himself 
too  severely ;  for  in  the  evening  he  took  a 
chill,  which  was  followed  by  high  fever.  In  a 


8* 


90  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

few  days,  however,  he  was  apparently  in 
his  usual  health.  Nevertheless,  it  was  evi- 
dent that  his  bodily  and  mental  powers  were 
somewhat  enfeebled.  Though  he  attended 
his  churches  regularly  up  to  within  a  few 
days  of  his  death,  yet  he  seemed  to  have 
a  kind  of  presentiment  that  his  days  were 
drawing  to  a  termination.  The  last  sermon 
he  ever  delivered  was  on  the  second  Lord's 
day  in  December,  at  Ebenezer  Church, 
seven  miles  east  of  Newnan.  He  died  on 
the  28th  day  of  December,  1846.  Death 
did  not  alarm  him.  Relying  on  the  blood 
of  Jesus  Christ  to  cleanse  him  from  all  sin, 
he  felt  no  fear  to  "pass  through  the  valley 
of  the  shadow  of  death."  Calmly  would  he 
converse  about  it,  as  his  Christian  friends 
came  around  his  bed. 

His  mortal  remains  lie  seven  miles  east 
from  Newnan,  by  the  side  of  those  of  Dea- 
con W.  M.  Stokes.  His  surviving  com- 
panion has  placed  over  his  remains  a  tomb, 
covered  by  a  neat  marble  slab,  with  the 
following  brief  inscription,  written  by  John 
E.  Robinson,  Esq. 


OF  ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  91 

SACRED 

TO   THE   MEMORY   OF 

REV.  HUMPHREY    POSEY, 

WHO   WAS    BORN   IN   VIRGINIA, 

ON    THE    12TH    OF   JANUARY,    1780, 

AND   DEPARTED    THIS    LIFE    DECEMBER   28TH,    1846. 

HE    UNITED   WITH    THE    BAPTIST   CHURCH 

IN    1802,    AND    WAS,     FOR    NEARLY    HALF    A     CENTURY, 

A   FAITHFUL   MINISTER    OF   THE    GOSPEL. 


The  gospel  was  his  joy  and  song, 

E'en  to  his  latest  breath; 
The  truth  he  had  proclaimed  so  long, 

"Was  his  support  in  death. 


By  the  special  request  of  his  son,  residing 
at  a  distance,  Elder  Otis  Smith,  Principal 
of  Brownwood  High  School,  near  Lagrange, 
delivered,  in  May  following,  a  funeral  dis- 
course to  a  large  assemblage  of  his  friends, 
in  the  Baptist  church  at  Newnan.  The 
Western  Association  at  its  session  in  Sep- 
tember, requested  Elder  J.  E.  Dawson  to 


92  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

preach  a  discourse  in  reference  to  his  me- 
mory, to  the  delegates  and  friends  present. 
His  theme  was  UA  good  minister  of  Jesus 
Christ."  All  classes  felt  that  the  preacher 
might  give  full  scope  to  his  feelings  with 
little  danger  of  drawing  his  picture  of  a 
good  man  too  bold  and  bright. 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY  POSEY.  93 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Persecution  of  Elder  Posey. — Anecdote. — Method  of 
Preaching. — His  portrait. 

Jesus  Christ  told  his  apostles  that  in 
this  world  they  should  have  tribulation ;  and 
Paul  at  Lystra,  Iconium,  and  Antioch,  ex- 
horted the  disciples  to  continue  in  the  faith, 
declaring  that  "  we  must  through  much 
tribulation  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God." 
Speaking  of  his  fellow-laborers  in  the  work 
of  the  ministry,  he  says,  "  We  are  made  a 
spectacle  unto  the  world,  and  to  angels,  and 
to  men."  1  Cor.,  iv.  9.  Again,  "We 
are  made  as  the  filth  of  the  world  and  as 
the  offscouring  of  all  things  unto  this  day." 
"Blessed  are  ye,"  says  Christ,  "when  men 
shall  revile  you,  and  persecute  you,  and 
shall  say  all  manner  of  evil  against  you, 
falsely,  for  my  sake."  This  blessing  came 
upon  our  venerable  brother  Posey.  "  Re- 
member," said  Jesus,  "the  word  that  I  said 


94  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

unto  you,  the  servant  is  not  greater  than, 
his  Lord.  If  they  have  persecuted  me, 
they  will  also  persecute  you."  The  cause 
of  all  this  is  revealed  in  another  place  in 
holy  writ,  and  deserves  special  notice. 
"  The  tvicked  watcheth  the  righteous,  and 
seeheth  to  slay  him.  The  Lord  will  not 
leave  him  in  his  hand,  nor  condemn  him 
when  he  is  judged."  Ps.  xxxvii.  32,  83. 
Elder  Posey  had  his  enemies,  his  trials,  his 
troubles,  and  his  persecution.  He  could 
not  have  been  a  minister  of  Jesus  Christ 
without  them.  It  may  be  proper  to  give 
an  extract  from  a  letter  from  Deacon  James 
Whitaker.     He  writes  as  follows  : — 

"  Valley  Town,  Jan.  9,  1849. 
Dear  Brother, — 

You  ask  me  for  a  sketch  of  the  charac- 
ter of  Elder  Humphrey  Posey.  I  have 
known  him  upwards  of  forty  years.  I  saw 
him  ordained  to  the  ministry  forty-three 
years  ago  next  May.  Like  most  other  good 
men,  the  shafts  of  the  wicked  were  some- 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  95 

times  hurled  at  him,  but  always  fell  harm- 
less at  his  feet. 

He  was  a  very  poor  man,  with  a  rising 
family,  when  he  commenced  the  ministry. 
He  preached  successfully,  and  taught  school 
for  the  support  of  his  family.  His  charac- 
ter as  a  teacher  and  a  minister  stood  high. 
He  was  cheerful  and  friendly  in  his  inter- 
course with  mankind.  His  mind  was  well 
stored  with  anecdote. 

He  was  once  attacked  by  a  poltroon,  who 
was  on  a  circuit,  bearing  the  name  of  a 
preacher,  in  which  case  a  suit  was  brought, 
when  the  character  of  Posey  came  through 
unscathed,  while  the  name  of  the  other 
stands  on  the  records  of  the  court,  branded 
with  falsehood." 

Is  it  not  a  great  blessing  that  though 
"the  wicked  watcheth  the  righteous  and 
seeketh  to  slay  him."  jet  "the  Lord  will 
not  leave  him  in  his  hand,  nor  condemn  him 
when  he  is  judged?"  This  is  a  source  of 
peculiar  consolation  to  the  man  of  God, 


96  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

who  in  this  world  "  shall  have  tribula- 
tion." 

That  Elder  Posey's  mind  should  be  "well 
stored  with  anecdote, "  is  not  surprising,  when 
it  is  remembered  that  he  was  nearly  all  his 
life  traveling  and  preaching  among  almost 
all  classes  of  his  fellow-men.  That  he  was 
extraordinarily  gifted  in  applying  an  anec- 
dote is  very  well  known  by  those  who  were 
intimately  acquainted  with  him.  The  writer 
of  this  sketch  having  known  him  ever  since 
the  organization  of  the  Georgia  Baptist 
Convention,  which  occurred  in  June,  1822, 
remembers  particularly  his  very  pertinent 
application  of  the  following ;  and  the  cases 
in  which  it  might  be  applied  are  so  nume- 
rous, that  an  insertion  of  it  can  scarcely  be 
considered  out  of  place  in  this  brief  Memoir. 
I  shall  give  it  as  I  find  it  now  in  print, 
though  Elder  Posey  related  it,  in  his  otvn 
words,  to  a  fireside  circle  of  brethren,  in 
which  the  conversation  was  respecting  the 
causes  of  frequent  changes  of  pastors  in  the 
churches.     It  is  as  follows  : — 

"  The  people  in  one  of  the  out  parishes 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  97 

in  Virginia  wrote  to  Dr.  Rice,  who  was  then 
at  the  head  of  the  Theological  Seminary, 
in  Prince  Edward,  for  a  minister.  They 
said  they  wanted  a  man  offi?*st  rate  talents, 
for  they  had  run  down  considerably,  and 
needed  building  up.  They  wanted  one  who 
could  write  ivell,  for  some  of  the  young 
people  were  very  nice  about  that  matter. 
They  wanted  one  who  could  visit  a  good 
deal,  for  their  former  minister  had  neglected 
that,  and  they  wanted  to  bring  it  up.  They 
wanted  a  man  of  very  gentlemanly  de- 
portment, for  some  thought  a  great  deal 
of  that.  And  so  they  went  on,  describing 
a  perfect  minister.  The  last  thing  they 
mentioned  was — they  gave  their  last  minis- 
ter three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars ;  but  if 
the  Doctor  would  send  them  such  a  man  as 
they  had  described,  they  would  raise  another 
fifty  dollars,  making  it  four  hundred.  The 
Doctor  sat  right  down  and  wrote  a  reply, 
telling  them  that  they  ought  forthwith  to 
make  a  call  for  old  Doctor  Dight,  in  hea- 
ven;  for  he  did  not  know  any  one  in  this 

world  who  answered  their  description.  And 

9 


98  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

as  Dr.  Dwight  had  been  living  so  long  on 
spiritual  food,  lie  might  not  need  so  much 
for  the  body,  and  possibly  he  might  live  on 
four  hundred  dollars." 

Dr.  Franklin,  the  great  American  philo- 
sopher, often  carried  his  point  in  an  argu- 
ment by  the  introduction  of  an  appropriate 
anecdote.  Mr.  Posey  related  anecdotes  in 
the  social  circle  with  great  ease,  appropri- 
ateness and  effect,  yet  he  seldom  introduced 
them  to  illustrate  any  thing  in  his  pulpit 
performances.  He  could  enjoy  himself 
pleasantly  in  the  parlor,  in  an  easy  and 
familiar  strain  of  conversation,  and  rarely 
failed  to  render  others  easy  and  pleasant  in 
his  company.  But  when  he  entered  the 
pulpit,  he  was  grave — he  was  solemn. — 
"  Thou,  God,  seest  me,"  seemed  to  influ- 
ence his  whole  life ;  but  especially  in  the 
pulpit  he  appeared  never  to  forget  it.  He 
could  not  pardon  any  thing  like  witticism 
in  the  sacred  desk.  He  never  took  a  "  quip 
or  merry  turn." 

As  respects  Ms  course  in  the  pastoral  care 
of  the  churches  he  served,  it  was  a  uniform 
rule  with  him  to  resign,  whenever  he  dis- 


OF   ELDER    HUMPHREY   POSEY.  99 

covered  his  opinions  and  feelings  were  not 
respected  as  lie  conceived  they  should  be. 
Always  sustaining  with  dignity  the  Mode- 
rator's chair,  he  scarcely  ever  failed  to  se- 
cure from   his  brethren  a   respectful   and 
dignified  address  in  the  business  of  confer- 
ence.     "Let  all  things  be  done  decently 
and  in  order"  was  his  motto  on  all  occa- 
sions.    When  this   is    adhered  to   by  the 
Pastor,    there   is    despatch   in   the   affairs 
which  usually  come  before  the  conference, 
and  there  is  secured  a  decent  respect  for 
the  character  of  the  church  from  the  world. 
In  reference  to  his  dress — Jus  apparel — 
it  might  not  be  amiss  to  state,  for  the  bene- 
fit  of  the  rising  ministry   of  the  present 
age,  that  he  was  very  plain  and  prudent  in 
his    clothing.     Like    the    departed  Luther 
Rice,  he  had  too  much  to  do,  his  heart  was 
too  much  set  on  doing  it,  and  his  time  was 
too  precious  to  be  wasted  in  attention  to 
such  matters.     He  placed  very  little  value 
upon  fashionable  gloves  or  fine  coats.     His 
towering   mind  rose   above  the   region  in 
which  such  things  are  thought  of  most. 


ICO  SKETCH   OF   THE   LIFE 

With  regard  to  his  sermons,  it  is  a  re- 
markable fact,  that  though  a  good  penman, 
he  never  wrote  a  sermon  during  his  long 
and  very  acceptable  ministerial  course  ;  and 
among  his  papers  I  do  not  find  even  a 
skeleton  of  a  sermon.  And  yet  his  dis- 
courses were  generally  well-arranged,  sys- 
tematical, and  full  of  good  sense,  containing 
clear  and  forcible  exhibitions  of  Bible  truth. 
He  pursued,  through  life,  a  course  of  theo- 
logical studies,  which,  it  is  feared,  is  greatly 
neglected  by  many  of  the  young  as  well  as 
old  ministers  of  the  present  day.  He  studied 
the  Bible  closely,  and  was  mighty  in  the 
English  version  of  the  scriptures.  In  this 
respect  his  tongue  was  "  the  pen  of  a  ready 
writer."  He  considered  "  Faith  the  starting 
point  and  moving  poiver  of  the  divine  life;' 
repentance,  fear,  hope,  love,  are  but  its 
works.  It  must,  therefore,  itself  be  the 
divine  work  it  is  said  to  be ;  and  though 
divine,  it  is,  on  our  part,  the  simplest  and 
first  of  all  good  works.  His  religious  creed 
was  not  a  heterogeneous,  absurd  mass  of 
indefinable  opinions  ;  but  it  was  clearly  con- 


OF   ELDER   HUMPHREY   POSEY.  101 

ceived,  well  digested,  and  fully  sustained  in 
his  sermons. 

He  was  a  great  admirer  of  the  late  Dr. 
Wm.  Staughton,  the  author  of  the  Abridg- 
ment of  Gill's  Body  of  Divinity,  and  the  re- 
puted mover  of,  and  assistant  in,  the  or- 
ganization of  the  first  Female  Bible  Society 
in  the  world.  With  the  Doctor,  during  his 
engagement  at  Valley  Town,  he  carried  on 
a  regular  and  very  interesting  correspond- 
ence ;  and  many  of  his  letters  were  pub- 
lished, particularly  those  giving  an  account 
of  his  labors  as  missionary  among  the  In- 
dians. Dr.  S.  esteemed  him  very  highly, 
for  his  work's  sake ;  and  his  family  were 
uncommonly  warm  in  their  attachment  to 
him.  And  when  at  Philadelphia,  on  the 
duties  of  his  agency,  a  daughter  of  that 
distinguished  man  of  God,  being  skilled  in 
portrait  painting,  requested  him  to  sit,  that 
she  might  transmit  his  interesting  features 
to  the  canvas.  He  complied  with  this  re- 
quest, and  she  took,  it  is  said,  a  very 
accurate  likeness,  which  was  afterwards  pre- 
sented to  the  Columbian  College,  at  Wash- 


102  SKETCH   OP   THE   LIFE 

ington  city,  where  it  may  probably  be  still 
seen. 

Mrs.  Posey,  ample  in  her  resources,  and 
long  well  known  as  a  liberal  Baptist,  still 
living,  and  ready  to  every  good  work,  pro- 
cured, at  her  own  expense,  the  beautiful 
engraving  which  accompanies  these  pages. 
She  had  it  made  from  a  daguerreotype  like- 
ness. It  will  be  easy  to  discover  from  his 
portrait  that  he  was  an  interesting  man. 
Decision  and  promptitude,  firmness  and  in- 
flexibility of  purpose,  for  which  he  was  so 
remarkable,  are  very  distinctly  developed 
in  his  features. 

She  had  a  likeness,  large  as  life,  painted 
from  the  same  daguerreotype,  a  year  or 
more  after  his  death.  When  the  artist  had 
finished  his  work,  he  invited  the  friends  of 
Elder  Posey  to  call  at  Dr.  J.  W.  Terrell's 
residence,  in  Newnan,  where  it  was  placed 
in  the  parlor,  that  they  might  see  it.  Num- 
bers, feeling  anxious  to  have  such  a  privi- 
lege, went.  The  painting  was  placed  in  a 
frame  with  the  face  to  the  wall,  and  when 
the  friends  were  seated,  according  to  his 


OF   ELDER    HUMPHREY   POSEY.  103 

wishes,  he  turned  it  to  their  view.  Such 
was  the  effect  produced,  that  some  wept. 
This  is  stated,  not  to  praise  the  unnamed 
artist  for  his  skill,  but  to  let  the  reader 
know  that  Elder  Humphrey  Posey  lives 
in  the  recollection  of  the  people  of  New- 
nan,  and  lives-,  it  is  believed,  in  everlast- 
ing remembrance  before  God  in  heaven. 


THE  END. 


